MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE
by FAH3
Summary: At the center of the universe, a battle wages between the forces of good and the forces of evil. In this war between the light and the dark, one will be choosen to maintain the balance of power.
1. Chapter 1

The four passengers inside the experimental craft were buckled in safe and sound. Lieutenant Marlena Glenn, a very skilled and highly decorated pilot for the United States Air Force, exhaled slowly as she did her best to control her excitement. She enjoyed the freedom that came with flying. With each chance she could get while she was in the air, she would push her jet farther and farther until it would reach the boundary between Earth and space. She dreamed of flying amongst the stars. She knew space travel was far off for now, but hopefully she would be helping get humanity's foot in the door.

The spacecraft she was sitting in, the Valiant, was designed and built at the Middleton Space Center in Colorado. Despite being so far north, they had created some of the latest and most amazing technology of the early twenty-first century. It had been in development for five years, and it took another three to test the systems and engines before the craft was finally constructed. In the co-pilot seat and engineering station were the two scientists who designed the Valiant and her systems. Dr. James Timothy Possible and Drew Lipski were friends and college roommates, and now co-workers at the Middleton Space Center. They were on board to make sure the test flight went smoothly and correct any malfunction that arose. But if any medical problem arose with any member of the team, mission control had chosen Dr. Possible's wife Anne to act as the on-board medical officer.

So now, here they all sat. While Marlena, James, and Drew were excited about the impending launch, Anne couldn't help but be extremely nervous. She knew her husband had to pull a lot of favors in order for her to be apart of this mission, but she honestly was wishing that she was at home in their apartment. She and James had recently decided to finally start a family, and they were looking into a house that wasn't far from Middleton General, where she worked, or the Space Center. But at that moment, there was something in the pit of her stomach that was telling her this flight was a bad idea. She didn't know if it was just her nervousness or what, but she just couldn't help but shake this bad feeling she had.

"Anne? Is everything okay?" James asked as he glanced at her station behind him and Marlena.

"I'm fine, James. Just nervous." Anne said as she took a deep breath herself.

"_Lieutenant Glenn, this is Mission Control. We need a final systems check."_ Mission Control said over the young pilot's headset.

"Roger, Control. We are now going through pre-flight check list. Lipski?" Marlena asked.

"All computers are functioning. Engines, sensors, and life support are in the green and operating at one-hundred percent." Drew said from his station.

"Dr. Possible?"

"Navigation is on-line as well as thrusters. Communications are in the green as well." James said.

"Anne? How does medical look?"

"All vitals are in the green. Emergency medical supplies are filled and ready in case of an emergency." Anne said.

"Mission Control, this is Valiant. Everything is in the green and ready for launch." Lt. Glenn said with a smile.

"_Roger, Valiant. T-minus five minutes for launch."_ Mission Control said.

"Everyone hold on to your sphincters, this is going to get bumpy." Marlena said as she and the others slid her helmet visor down and locked into place.

As the clock began to count down, the platform the ship was resting on rose to a forty degree angle while the ship itself began to rumble as the engines came on-line. Anne quickly tightened her belt as she began to feel queasy and her heart began to race. She couldn't believe she was actually doing something like this. As the rumbling of the engines became louder, she kept picturing the movie Apollo 13 in her head.

"_T-minus three, two, one, ignition."_

As the engines ignited with what almost sounded like a bomb going off beneath them, the small ship was sent hurdling into the blue skies above. The massive G-forces were pushing the four travelers into their seats as the ship fly skyward farther and farther, fighting against the strong pull of gravity as the engines kept increasing the ships speed faster and faster still. Anne kept her eyes closed with her fingers digging into her console tightly that her fingernails threatened to puncture the gloves of her space suit. Lt. Glenn, James, and Drew were smiling like kids on Christmas morning when they saw the gifts Santa had brought for them. They kept their eyes glued to the world outside the main viewing windows as they watched the clouds streak by them as they flew ever higher into the atmosphere. Soon, after what almost felt like an eternity of waiting for them, they saw the blue sky fade to black and were rewarded with the sight of open space.

When the ship finally stopped shaking, Anne opened her eyes, She feared the ship had stopped too soon was would be forced to watch themselves freefalling. Anne gasped when she saw star filled space in front of her as the ship was maneuvered into a standard orbit around the Earth. She couldn't believe what she was seeing. She closed her eyes tightly for a few seconds before opening them again to make sure she wasn't dreaming anything. Outside their small ship was the world they called home. From up here, it was hard to believe that below them is where they grew up. That so many people were directly below them. It was simply incredible.

"Lipski, what's the status of the ship's systems?" Marlena asked him.

"The engines need to cool off for a little while. Other than that, everything's in the green. We've still got plenty of fuel, and the environmental systems are coming on-line now." Drew said to her.

"Good. These visors are too tinted for my taste." James said as he unlocked the visor and lifted it, inhaling a deep breath of fresh air.

"Okay everyone. Shut down your suit's air supply before you open the visors." Marlena said as everyone followed James' example. "Don't get too comfortable yet, guys. We need to do another systems check and get the navigational computer ready for the next phase of the mission."

"Next phase?" Anne asked her.

"Anne, I thought James gave you the mission details." Marlena said.

"He told me NASA was testing his ship. I thought that meant orbiting the Earth. Maybe checking on the international space station." Anne said to Lt. Glenn.

"James," Marlena said as James began to look a little sheepish.

"If I had told her everything, she wouldn't have come." James said to the commanding officer next to him.

"Marlena, what is the next phase?" Anne asked her.

"You were right about us orbiting, but it isn't going to be Earth. After we get the navigational computers up and running, our next stop is the moon." Marlena said.

"DO WHAT?" Anne shouted.

"We're going to be scanning the surface of the moon for possible colony sites and test our new communications device. Hopefully, we'll still be in contact with Mission Control when we orbit the dark side of the moon." Drew said to her.

"_Control to Valiant, is everything all right up there?"_

"James, you're sleeping on the couch for the next year when we get back home." Anne growled at her husband.

"Roger, control. Just getting used to the zero-G environment." Marlena said.

"_What's the status of the nav computer, Lt. Glenn?"_ Control asked.

"Computer's already up and running, Control." James said into his headset. "It will be three minutes before the ship's systems will have our course locked in. If everything works like it should, we'll reach the moon within 24 hours."

"_Roger, Valiant."_

* * *

TEN HOURS LATER

James has just come out of the on-board bathroom when he caught a glimpse of his wife with a bitter look on his face. He immediately felt guilty about lying to her about what they were exactly doing on the mission, but he knew she had a tremendous fear of flying. And he didn't want her to be worried about him while he was away. To tell the truth, he didn't want to ever be away from his wife even a minute. Just about everyday, he thanked God that such a beautiful woman like her could love an awkward geek like him. Knowing he had to try and make things right, he floated over to where she was sitting at her console.

"How are you feeling?" he asked her, wondering if she was getting air sick. Or maybe it should be space sick?

"I just finished having lunch. The freeze dried ice cream is good, but the pizza needs a lot of work." She told him as she put the wrappers in a built in garbage can.

"Anne, I'm sorry about not telling you everything." James said.

"Well, why didn't you? I thought you trusted me." She said to him, obviously still angry with him.

"I do trust you. But I was afraid you would have said no if you knew the details."

"Your damn straight I would have! Do you know how terrified I've been ever since those NASA guys told me I was apart of this mission?" she asked him.

"Your fear of flying, I know. But honey, this was a once and a lifetime opportunity. And as much as I would have enjoyed it, I would have been miserable without you." James said to her.

"I find that hard to believe." she scoffed

"No, Anne. I'm serious. I love you more than I even love science. And I wanted to make sure that if I was to go through the best life had to offer, then so should you. I mean, how many doctors can say they've been to the moon and back?" James asked her.

"Not that many. I am glad I came with you, but you're still going to have to do an awful lot to get me to trust you again."

"I'll go to hell and back if you want me to." James said to her.

"And you're still sleeping on the couch when we get home." Anne said to him.

"James?" Drew asked him as his console began to beep.

"What is it, Drew?"

"I'm getting something weird on the sensors." Drew said as James floated over to him.

"How weird?" Marlena asked, overhearing the conversation.

"I don't see how this is possible, but I'm getting strange gravity readings to our starboard side." Drew said.

"But we're no where near the moon yet." James said as he began to look at the data himself.

"I know that, James. But these readings are in flux. It's like they're there one minute and gone the next." Drew said as he kept trying to interpret the data.

"It can't be. Can it?" James asked himself.

"James, what's going on?" Marlena asked him.

"We have to change course." James said as he rushed to the co-pilot's seat.

"Come again?" Marlena asked him.

"Change course, NOW!" James said as he began booting some of the dormant systems.

"James, the computer has us locked on course." Drew said to him.

"Then we've got to switch to manual!" James said as he began to bring the thrusters back on-line.

"You know it isn't as easy as,"

"THEN TURN THE DAMN THING OFF! SMASH IT IF YOU HAVE TO!" James screamed at Marlena.

"James, you're scaring me." Anne said.

Soon, the ship lurched violently forward as they began to dramatically began to turn hard to the right.

"What the hell is going on?" Marlena asked as she grasped the controls and tried to steer the ship.

"JAMES?" Anne screamed.

"Everyone get your helmets back on and buckle in! We're caught in the event horizon!" James said.

"Event horizon of what?" Marlena demanded as she tried to maneuver the ship, but was having no luck in changing their course.

"We're caught in the gravity well of a wormhole." James said as he locked his helmet and visor back into place.

"A WHAT?" Drew shouted.

Seeing the panic in Drew's eyes, Anne immediately grasped her helmet and secured it back onto her space suit while Drew scrambled to do the same.

"Marlena, get your helmet on!" James screamed.

"I've got to get her out of this!"

"We're already caught inside of it! The best thing we can try to do is ride it out." James said as the ship's speed began to accelerate. Marlena could feel the ship shudder as everything around them began to move faster and faster still. Taking James advise, Marlena quickly locked her helmet into place and strapped herself in as the ship began to shake.

"James, we're already at mach fifteen. And we're going faster!" Marlena said.

"Everyone, hang on tight!" James said as they began to feel the ship's speed increase so much that they were beginning to be pressed into their seats again as the Valiant began to vibrate violently. Soon, everything outside began moving at such a fast pace that it looked like they had gone into light speed while the ship itself felt like she was going to shake herself apart.

Despite not having any control, Marlena gripped the controls tightly in a vain effort to try and ease the turbulence the Valiant was experiencing. She felt like G-forces at work were about to push her through the seat itself as the Valiant shook like a rattle in a dryer. Marlena herself felt like her teeth were going to shake out of her head at any second. She wasn't sure, but she thought she could hear Drakken screaming like a baby. She didn't blame him. She was so terrified right now that she was scared she might scream or ruin her space suit at any minute.

"JAMES!" Anne screamed.

"Just – hold on!" James said as loudly as he could as he felt blood begin to drip out of his nose.

With a violent lurch forward, the shaking and tremendous speed stopped. Everyone was groaning from the sudden acceleration and stop. Marlena felt like she had just got off a tilt-a-whirl ride while Anne rested her head against her console to stop it from spinning.

"Drew? How – how is everything?" James as ked as he tried to calm his shaking nerves.

"Give me a minute." Drew said as he made sure his dinner stayed inside of his stomach. He took several deep breaths before sitting straight and looking at the data displays. "She almost lost it there. Aft sensors are temporarily down, as well as the bathroom. All in all, it looks like the Valiant is a pretty sturdy little ship." Drew said.

"Can you tell us where we are?" Marlena asked him.

"I'm trying. So far, the computers can't find any familiar constellations." Drew said as he kept scanning.

"Mission Control, this is the Valiant. Do you read me? Valiant to Mission Control, do you read me?" Marlena asked as she toggled with the communications systems.

"James, what was that?" Anne asked him.

"A wormhole. I thought they were just theories." James said to his wife.

"How about you enlighten the rest of us that don't have a clue on what you're talking about?" Marlena asked him.

"It's an anomaly in space. Supposedly, they may have the ability to transport an object from one point in space to another. Maybe even in time. But they're unpredictable, and very violent. We're lucky we're alive right now." James said to them.

"The computers finally found something. I almost missed it." Drew said.

"A familiar constellation?" James asked him.

"Orion. But – oh my God." Drew said as he looked at the readout.

"What is it?" Anne asked him.

"According to the ship's computers, we're eighty-thousand light years away from our solar system." Drew said in shock.

"Oh dear God." James said as he felt fear begin to grip the pit of his stomach.

"We're lost? Drew, you're telling me that we're lost in space?" Anne demanded.

"I-I'm afraid so." Drew said to her.

"Wait a minute. Can't we just turn around and go back through the wormhole?" Marlena asked them.

"That doesn't mean it'll still be there. Wormholes can appear in one spot, and be in another a few seconds later." James said.

"And I'm not detecting any of the strange readings from earlier. Even if we did find it, there's no guarantee it would take us back home. It might spit us farther out into the galaxy." Drew said.

"So what do we do?" Marlena asked.

"First thing's first. Drew, I need you start scanning. We need to find any planets near by that can support human life." Drew said.

"I'm on it." Drew said as he went back to work.

"And what do we do?" Marlena asked him.

"I guess we,"

James didn't finish as something struck the ship, making it turn almost a complete ninety degrees.

"What in the hell?" Drew asked.

"Oh, shit! We've drifted into an asteroid field. HANG ON!" Marlena said as she took the controls and began maneuvering the small vessel.

Despite being an ace fighter pilot, trying to maneuver a ship in space was completely different than piloting a jet in Earth's atmosphere. Marlena tried her best to try and avoid the floating chunks of space debris, but it seemed the more she maneuvered the ship the more it was struck.

"I don't want to tell you how to do your job, Lieutenant. But it might be more helpful IF YOU DON'T HIT THE FREAKING ASTEROIDS!" Drew shouted.

"I'm trying, damn it!" Marlena shouted as another asteroid collided with the ship's hull, causing several alarms to erupt. "Status report, Lipski!"

"Number one retro rocket is out. Long range communications is gone, and our primary oxygen supply is venting into space. Auxiliary is already coming on-line. We can't take anymore hits like that."

"No shit, Sherlock!" Marlena said as she tried to maneuver the ship. The asteroids were getting smaller and further apart. Marlena and the others began to breath a little more easily, hoping they were nearing the edge of asteroid field.

"James, the sensors just found a planet not too far from us. According to this, it has an atmosphere almost identical to Earth."

"Almost?" James asked him.

"There's a few variations. I'm reading strange energy readings throughout the planet, but it can support human life." Drew said.

"Where is it?" James asked him.

"If we can turn the ship a few degrees port, the computers can do the rest." Drew said as he began to lock in the coordinates.

The relief of Drew's news was short lived when they saw an even larger asteroid hurdling straight towards them.

"Lieutenant," James said.

"I see it!" Marlena said as she adjusted the Valiant's course. Everyone sat tensed and on edge as they saw the asteroid grow larger and larger in front of them. All of them were getting ready to kiss their butts goodbye when the ship finally maneuvered enough to pass under the massive rock safely. More importantly, Marlena could see the planet straight ahead. With a bit of luck, it looked to be no more than an hour away.

"Wow." was all Marlena could say as she saw the alien world in front of them.

"Have you ever seen anything so beautiful?" Anne asked out loud.

"Never." Drew said.

"I have." James said, causing Marlena too look at him for a moment.

"When?"

"The day I married it." James said, making Anne blush slightly.

"All right guys. We need to get everything ready for an emergency landing. Which means we're going to have to try and aim for a water landing." Marlena said.

"I'll keep the sensors on a continuos scan of the planet. Maybe we can find a coastline or something." Drew said. As he began to type in the commands, several panels began to spark before his monitor went out. Small strands of smoke rose from Drew's station as his monitor cracked while several lights and readings on James' panel went dark.

"What happened?" James asked him.

"My console is fried. That last asteroid hit must have caused more damage than I thought." Drew said.

"So no sensors?" Marlena asked.

"No sensors, nothing. I can't even tell you if the engines will work." Drew said.

"And the navigational computers are fried. We're going to have to try and enter the planet's atmosphere manually." James said.

"Then I guess we've just got to hope for the best, then." Marlena said as she tried to keep the ship heading toward the planet in front of them.

"_Anne."_ A soft and feminine voice said.

"Who was that?" Anne asked.

"What?" James asked her.

"Nothing. I thought I heard something." Anne said and tried to keep her mind on monitoring everyone's vitals on her console.

"_Only you can hear me, Anne."_ The voice said again, making Anne gasp slightly. _"I mean you no harm, Anne Possible. I must warn you that no one will survive the landing that you are about to attempt. Not without your help."_ The voice said to her.

"What can I do? Who are you?" Anne whispered to herself.

"_I am known only as the Sorceress. Listen carefully Anne, because my time is short. I am old, and must pass on my legacy onto another. I have seen that your heart is strong and pure, Anne Possible. If you agree to accept and uphold my legacy, you will have the power to save your friends. But I must warn you. If you agree to take my place, you will have a responsibility that you can not ignore. Ever"_ The voice said.

"What do I have to do?" Anne asked the voice. If it meant saving her husband's life, there was nothing she wouldn't do.

"_When the time comes, you will know what to do. From this day forward, my knowledge and strength are yours. It is now your duty to guard the secrets of my world, and maintain the balance between the light and the dark. You are now the Sorceress."_ The voice said as Anne felt what could only be described as both a warm and cold shiver travel up and down her back.

Anne felt slightly light headed for a moment and closed her eyes to try and make the strange sensation go away. She took a few deep breaths before finally opening her eyes again. As she did so, she saw that everyone's heartbeat's were going very fast. As she looked up at everyone, her eyes widened in surprise and shock as she saw that the ship was already beginning to enter the atmosphere of the planet! She had only closed her eyes for a few minutes, how could an hour have already passed?

"Marlena, straighten the nose!" James said.

"I'm trying, but she's fighting me!" Marlena said as the windows were blocked by the fiery glows of re-entry. The ship was shaking violently again and Anne could swear that the ship was starting to roll.

"Marlena, we'll burn up if you can't get that nose straightened!" James shouted.

"What am I going to do?" Anne asked herself. The voice said she would know what to do when the time came. Well the time was now, so what was she supposed to be doing? She didn't want her husband to die. She loved James too much. She would do anything to save him. Anything.

That's when she felt something stir inside of her. Something had just changed. An odd warm sensation began to rise in her chest and flow out and into her limbs. Placing her hands on her console, she closed her eyes and began to concentrate. Soon, she felt the warm sensation grow even more and willed it into the console. She could somehow feel power that was in her spread through out the ship, like she was trying to hold it with her mind. She could feel every part of the ship now. Almost like she had become one with it. Concentrating as hard as she could, the ship began to right itself as the shaking seemed to ease. As Anne kept concentrating at the task at hand, Drew glanced over at her and could almost swear that he thought he saw her eyes glowing with some sort of strange energy.

Soon, the ship had past through the outer atmosphere and was now flying through blue sky. James and Marlena could hardly believe that they had actually made it through re-entry. For a moment, it actually looked like they were fixing to loose the ship. But re-entry was the easy part. Now they actually had to try and land the ship, which had now just turned into a large flying brick. Marlena had flown past where they had wanted to land, and were now over open solid ground. James quickly deployed the landing gear, but that would help very little if at all. This landing was fixing to get rough, and that was an understatement.

"Everyone, hang on!" Marlena shouted as the ground was coming at them quickly.

Anne quickly rose her arm and opened her hand, enveloping the front of the ship in an energy field as the ship made contact with the solid Earth. The ship shook and jolted as it plowed along the ground and mud. Various consoles exploded and sparked as panels fell free and various wires and conduits fell loose and hung from the ceiling like veins in a jungle. Smoke was beginning to fill the interior of the Valiant as the ship struck several rocks and almost flipped several times. With instrument panel of both the pilot and co-pilot exploding violently, as well as Anne's station, the ship came to a stop before everyone was thrown forward as the rear engines exploded. What was left of the ship tumbled end over end as smoke and fire filled the small cockpit. The last thing JAmes saw was the front of the ship crashing into a large hillside before the windows shattered and piles of dirt came flooding in.

* * *

How long had it been? Hours? Minutes maybe? None of them really knew. As James began to wake, he could feel warm blood trickle down forehead and from his lower lip. As he opened his eyes, he saw Drew was standing over him and removing his shattered helmet. Drew's helmet was gone, and he had a nasty cut under his left eyes that was bleeding pretty badly as well as a few other smaller cuts. James tried to sit up, but immediately cried out as pain flooded his chest.

"Just lay still, James. I think you've got some broken ribs." Drew said to him.

"What – happened? The Valiant?" James asked.

"The ship's destroyed, James. Half of her went up when the engines exploded." Drew said.

To James' surprise, a young man in strange armor appeared next to Drew and placed a folded piece of cloth under James' head. The young man looked human, but was also dressed like a futuristic roman soldier. James was confused for a moment as he saw the young man wave his arm, with another armored man appearing by his side and begin attending to James' wounds.

"Who?"

"Natives, James. Humanoids." Drew said.

"Where – where's Anne?" James asked him.

"Just lay still. She'll be all right." Drew said.

"I have to find her." James said before shouting in pain as he tried to move.

"James, let them help you first." Drew said as he tried to hold him down while the medic tried to attend to his wounds.

James shouted before finally surrendering to the pain and laid still.

"We'll find her, James. I promise." Drew whispered as he let the medic attend to his ailing friends.

Drew looked back to the ship again, and tried to figure out what had become of Anne. When he awoke, he saw the natives arrive and help them escape. But because of the language they spoke, he didn't understand what they were saying. He was doing his best to try and use hand gestures to help them understand. But when they had pulled everyone from the wreckage, there was no sign of Anne anywhere. The only thing they had found of her at all was her empty spacesuit that was in her chair. Nothing was making sense at all.

On a near by ledge that overlooked the crash sight, a large eagle looked on at what was happening. If anyone had looked, they would have noticed how strange it was from other Eagles, even on this world. It's feathers were a stunning bright red while its eyes were as blue as sapphires. As it looked on at the scene before it, the eagle bowed its head and closed its eyes as tears began to fall. In time, she would be able to reveal what became of Anne Possible. But not yet. The eagle then took to the air and began to fly as it shed more tears over what she had given up to save the three from the wreckage. Ahead of her stood a large and ancient castle with the face of a skull carved into the main entrance. Inside of it lay her destiny, the destiny of those not yet born, and the fate of this world she would now call home. The world of Eternia.

**MASTERS **

**OF THE UNIVERSE **

By FAH3

The sun was shinning down on another beautiful day on the world of Eternia while its inhabitants went about their daily lives. In the small village of Candar, situated not too far from the eastern shores of the Sea of Rakash, everyone was going about their normal day. The market place in the center of the village was busy and filled with bustling life as children played in the street. On a few buildings, the bright banner of King Randor and the Kingdom of Eternos fluttered in the wind while even the royal guards couldn't help but enjoy cool air that came in from the sea earlier that morning. But unaware to everyone in the village, a small device was floating above their heads.

The device's design was unique. If anyone had looked up, they would only see its silhouette because of how high it was and assume it was a bird. Only a closer look would reveal it was a machine as its sensors and cameras surveyed everything below and around it. The strange device was now past the center of town and making its way toward the docks. Every building it passed, it would carefully scan at a fast pace. If there was nothing of interest to it, it would move onward. For the past two hours, it had been doing this. Looking for something unique. And as it made its way closer to the docks, its sensors found something. Altering its course and lowering its altitude, the device began making several scans of one building in particular. To anyone else, it would seem that the building looked to be a simple shop. Various fruits and vegetables were in several baskets, as well as strung up in bags and small nets from the ceiling inside. But further toward the back, the machine found something. Simple or not, it could detect that there was more advanced technology inside of it. The kind used by the royal guard in an outpost or barrack. Scanning the building further, it had found a large lift that lead several feet below the village. Under these people's very feet was a very large and highly secured bunker. Its target was found.

"Excellent." The machine's pilot said from his chair while the device that covered most of his head began to adjust itself.

"This had better be good." The larger figure behind him said in a deep, and very rough voice. Almost sounding like he had gargled with a combination of broken glass and sand paper.

"Our spies were correct. What we're looking for is underneath their feet." The man said as he recalled his device using the remote built into his gauntlet.

"Then what are we waiting for? We have our orders." The large figure said.

"Agreed." The man said as he opened a comm link. "All forces, move in. It's time to begin the assault."

* * *

Peaceful and serene. No one could ask for a better or more beautiful day. Even the sentry that sat in a guard tower along the edge of the village enjoyed the cool air as he kept his gaze. Normally, the post of being a lookout was often a boring and sometimes dreaded duty to be given. It meant staying within the fortified tower of stone for hours on end with no relief until past mid-day. And the only thing to do was to just stand and stare at the surrounding land. The only thing to do at times was to just daydream.

"_Command post to Sentry four. Come in."_ the voice of his commander said through the communicator in his ear.

"This is Sentry four, sir." He said as he placed to fingers lightly against the device he was wearing.

"_I need your hourly report, soldier."_

"So far, it's the same as usual captain. Nothing to report so far except the grass grow – hold on a second." The sentry said as he noticed something odd.

Coming from the woods, the sentry saw a strange large dust cloud forming. The wind wasn't powerful enough to cause such an effect, and he knew of no animal that could do any such thing as well. Reaching for his belt, he removed the binoculars that hung from his waist and looked through them. He couldn't make out anything at first. Whatever was stirring the dirt was still too far away. He zoomed in on the dirt cloud, and couldn't believe what he saw. It was a small band of figures that were dressed in black armor. The dirt cloud was being created by the vehicles that they were riding. They looked to be sky sleds from the kingdom of Eternos, but they had been painted black with a horrid screaming skull on the front of them that looked like it had been painted on with blood. All the armored men that rode them were armed with plasma rifles and pistols as wells as swords and daggers, but it was what they were towing that frightened him. Two large ion cannons were being toed by two armed armored transports. And it looked like both of the cannons were powerful enough to cave in a fortified castle wall.

"This is Sentry four. Commander, come in!" he said as he activated the comm link again.

"_What is it, Sentry four?"_ the commander responded.

"Commander, we've got hostel's coming in from the Dagon Jungle. They are well armed and have two ion cannons with them, sir!" the sentry said as he did his best to control the fear that was forming inside the pit of his stomach.

"_Are you sure, Sentry four?"_

"I'm positive, sir. I've never seen anything like them before."

"_Acknowledged." _The commander said and cut the transmission.

* * *

Inside barracks for the royal guard, the commander immediately exited his quarters and walked to the command and ops center as fast as he could. He entered the large room as it was buzzing with activity and headed directly to one of the techs that was observing different locations on a large holographic viewer.

"Soldier!" the commander bellowed.

"Yes, sir?" the tech asked.

"I need a live feed of the Dagon Jungle to the South-West." The commander said as he loomed behind the tech like a predator on top of his prey.

"Coming up, sir." The tech said as he began to switch the feed to several of the cameras that had posted in that area. Soon, the large holographic monitor was filled with different views of the large force that was approaching them, including the two large ion cannons. "What the? Who are they?" the tech asked himself.

"They aren't friendly, that's for sure. Sound the sirens. NOW!" the commander ordered.

A large siren immediately activated, causing all of the villagers to immediately stop what they were doing. Worry and fear began to spread among them as the soldiers began to be deployed along the outer walls that surrounded the village and kept them safe.

"_All villagers, proceed to the shelters as fast as you can! Repeat! All villagers are to proceed to the shelters as fast as possible!"_ the commander of the royal soldiers ordered over the several speakers that were throughout the village.

More soldiers began to fill the streets and began to order everyone to head to the nearest shelter instead of their homes. The fear began to rise in all of them as they were being lead to fortified shelters which were located beneath certain buildings. There were only two reasons that the villagers would proceed to these heavily fortified shelters instead of their homes. One would be an imminent natural disaster, such as a flood, large storm, or a tsunami. But there had been no sign of a storm of any kind. All the machines they had to monitor their world's weather had indicated that they would have at least a week of clear skies and calm winds. The perfect weather for harvesting crops and for gathering fish from the sea. That meant it was the other reason the shelters were used for which hadn't happened to them for several years. They were about to be attacked by a hostile force.

The small legion of soldiers that were in charge of defending the village were now all in place with their weapons armed, charged, and ready for battle. The commander of the legion was standing on the main wall, over the now closed gate to the village. His men had just finished locking the gates as the hostile forces were now visible, as well as the two large ion cannons the sentry had informed him off. The sky sleds they rode were very similar to the ones that the kingdom of Eternos used, but they had been heavily modified. Wherever their sky sleds came from came from, it was obvious the vehicles creator had copied their design. Soon, the hostile force was at the wall and began to fall into formation.

Some of the armored men stood to their feet and fell into ranks as others remained on their vehicles. He could see that many had what looked to be a large splash of red on their right shoulders while others had a darker burgundy color splashed on their left shoulders. From the way they were arranging themselves, the ones with the bright red on their shoulders were the higher-ranking officers. And on all of them, on both their forearms, was the same hideous red screaming skull that matched the ones on the sky sleds.

"Steady men. Be ready for anything." He said to his men as they kept their eyes on the hostels.

Below them, one armored soldier with both shoulders covered in red and wearing a back cape surveyed the walls of the city as well as his men as they all stood in formation around him. Everything was primed and to his satisfaction. A small, and yet predatory, smile formed underneath the black helmet that hid his features from everyone. On his right forearm, his gauntlet came to life as it opened a communications link.

"Everything is in place, sir. Awaiting further orders." The soldier said.

With a loud hiss, one lone figure exited one of the transports that had pulled one of the heavy ion cannons as its door opened. He wore a sickly dark green suit of armor over his frame that looked like it had been created by salvaging parts from various other things. A large broadsword of similar color hung from his belt, with the blade carrying several scratches and chips from being used over the course of several years. The soldiers that were standing in formation stood stiff like statues while every single one of them saluted the man as he walked to the closed gates of the city.

"All of the men are ready, sir. What are your orders?" the commanding officer asked the man in green armor.

The man turned to him, revealing the entire upper half of his head was covered by a strange green helmet that looked to be made of several various mechanical pieces, with one lone large blue lens in the center of where his eyes should have been. Various pieces of the smooth helmet began to shift as the blue eyepiece rotated away from his face and was quickly replaced by a glowing red one.

"Blast the gates." The man said as the ion cannons began to power up and he stepped out of the way.

"FIRE!" the commanding officer ordered as loudly as he could.

With a massive and thunderous roar, both of the large cannons unleashed a torrent of destructive energy toward the main gates. With an explosion loud enough to sound like an erupting volcano, the main gates and part of the wall was obliterated in an explosion powerful enough to shake the entire town down to its very foundations. Several of the royal guards were either knocked off the wall as it shook or killed by various flying pieces of debris, piercing straight through their armor or helmets. The smoke didn't even have time to clear as the dark figures began to storm the city and began firing at the valiant royal guard. Several armored soldiers immediately began flying through the streets on their sky sleds while other soldiers on foot took their place and began to fire and advance upon the royal guards. A full bloody battle had erupted in less than a minute as the smell of burnt metal and charred flesh began to fill everyone's noses.

"STAND YOUR GROUND, MEN! DRIVE THEM OUT!" the commander shouted as he drew his sword and began to charge into the fray, hacking away at limbs and driving his blade through the bodies of several raiders that they were fighting.

Even though it had been less than an hour since the battle had begun, it felt like it had been so much longer for the soldiers as they continued to fight. Buildings were now burning from stray blaster fire as several others were nothing more than ruble from the enemy's large ion cannons. Most of the royal guard was scattered on the wall and ground, either laying dead or immobile because of their wounds. The commander was still alive and fighting, although he was now growing weary and heavy hearted as he stepped over the bodies of his men. How was such a small attack force able to beat them? It was almost as if these raiders actually knew their defenses and fighting styles. But that was impossible.

"DRIVE THEM OUT, MEN!" he shouted to any of his soldiers that could still hear him. "DO NOT GIVE UP! DRIVE THEM AGGGHHH1" he shouted as a large, jagged knife erupted from his chest. He could taste the copper of his own blood as he felt it begin to fill and overflow from his throat as he looked down at the horrid weapon. With a massive jerk, the blade was ripped out from him from the back, and felt himself go limp as he fell to the ground.

"You talk too much." A rough voice said as he stepped out of the smoke.

He was a large, broad man with pale blue skin that was covered in various scars of different kinds. His left arm held a large plasma rifle while his right revealed it to be a large cybernetic prosthesis that was joined to his body at the shoulder. The large jagged blade retracted into the forearm as it shifted and transformed into a large energy weapon that immediately began to power itself up. His jaw was also a cybernetic prosthesis that had several razor sharp and jagged teeth set into it to make him look like a vicious predator. His head was covered by a large and dirty red helmet that looked to have been salvaged from elsewhere, protecting the obvious cybernetic enhancements to his brain that could barley be made out. His face, also riddled with many scars, was a sickly green as a large sneer formed as he looked down at the mortally wounded captain.

"A word of advice. You should have given up when you had the chance." He said to the man as he aimed his cybernetic arm and obliterated the man's head and upper torso with a large energy blast.

"Was that really necessary, Trap Jaw?" the man in the green armor and cycloptic red lens said.

"Mind your own business, Tri-Klops." The large man said as several of their men made their way toward them. "Report!" Trap Jaw ordered.

"We have secured the bunker, sir. There is more than enough weapons inside to supply all of our forces." The commanding officer said.

"Excellent." Tri-Klops said.

"Lieutenant!" Trap Jaw said loudly, gaining the soldier's complete attention. "How many shelters are there?"

"We've found four, but our intelligence suggests that there are five all together." The soldier said.

"Which shelter is the largest?"

"The one in the center of town, underneath their temple, sir." The soldier replied.

"Good." Trap Jaw said with delight. "Seal it closed. Make sure no one is able to escape. Then blow it up when you're finished." Trap Jaw said as he began to turn to leave.

"S-sir?" the soldier asked, unable to believe what he just heard.

"Did I stutter, soldier?" Trap Jaw demanded as he turned to face the commanding officer again, annoyed that his orders were being questioned by a subordinate.

"No, sir. I just,"

"The people of Eternia must be shown who is in control, and who has the upper hand. And these – pests – are to be made an example of. Seal the temple, and burn it to the ground with everyone inside." Trap Jaw said.

"But sir, there's women and children in that shelter." The soldier said.

When Trap Jaw turned again, his cybernetic arm shifted into a large razor sharp claw and gripped the commanding officer by his throat. Trap Jaw couldn't see the soldier's face through the tinted screen of the helmet, but he could see the man trembling with fear. He slowly tightened the claw and could hear the armor around his neck beginning to crack from the pressure. A little more, and he would be cutting skin and opening an artery.

"Do I have to repeat myself again? Or should I just find your replacement that will follow my orders to the letter?" Trap Jaw growled as his breath began to fog the visor of the frightened soldier's helmet.

"I – I'll get – right to it, sir!" the soldier chocked.

"Good." Trap Jaw growled and let the soldier go. As he saw the soldier run away to carry out his duty, he looked down at what was left at the commander of the royal guard he had just killed.

"Is there a reason you thought he deserved to die like that?" Tri-Klops asked as he cleaned the blood off of his jade green sword.

"My reasons are my own. Keep asking, and I'll make sure I send you to hell right behind him." Trap Jaw said as he turned and left.

* * *

Inside the great Royal Palace in the city of Eternos, workers were busy getting everything ready inside the great dining hall for the grand celebration that was to take place later in the day. Today was a very special day in the kingdom of Eternia. It was the sixteenth birthday of King Randor and Queen Marlena's son, Prince Ronald. Ronald, or Ron as he preferred to be called, was seen by many as a unique Eternian, and not just because he was of Royal Blood. Everyone knew that the Queen came from a distant world many years ago. As she and her friends healed from their injuries and learned how to speak with the people of Eternia, it became obvious that Randor and Marlena had fallen in love with each other. From the moment of Ron's birth, it was almost as if many in Eternia knew that a unique destiny awaited him.

As preparations for the great feast were coming to a close, a strange little creature flew in to see what he could do to help. He wore red robes that were made of a strange cloth, with gold trim around its edges. A gold medallion hung from his neck while a burgundy sash was tied around what may have been his waist. A pair of blue hands could be seen, but no sign of any legs as he hovered in the air. In truth, the small being was only two feet high if he didn't have the ability to hover and float about as he pleased. A large red and tattered hat sat on his head while a purple cloth covered the lower half of his face. With the combination of hat and scarf, the only features that could be truly seen of the floating creature were his pointed elfin-like ears, and his bright yellow eyes. On his robes, beneath the gold medallion, was an elaborate and stylized black O. The creature was the royal court magician and jester known as Orko.

Orko had come from a world in another dimension known as Trolla. On his world, he was once a very powerful and respected sorcerer. But while he had been casting a spell, something had gone wrong and a dimensional tear had been formed. Before Orko had realized what had happened, he found himself thrown into the world of Eternia. Thankfully, he had arrived just in time to save a young Prince Ronald from being dinner for various creatures that lived in the very dangerous Tar Swamp. And even though he had made many friends in his new home, life was still somewhat difficult. Unlike Trolla, his magic on Eternia was unpredictable most of the time and usually had the opposite result of what he intended. Still, it didn't stop him from trying to help whenever he could; even though his unpredictable magic had earned him a reputation of being somewhat of a jinx.

"Man-at-Arms!" Orko called to the captain of the royal guard who was overseeing things. As Orko flew to the experienced warrior, the middle aged man couldn't help but groan to himself as he heard the shrill voice of the court magician. It was one headache he was hoping to avoid today.

"What is it, Orko?" the man asked as he turned to face the floating magician.

"I was just wondering if there was anything I can do to help. After all, you only turn sixteen once. At least I think that's how it is in this world." The little creature asked.

"Orko, we have already taken care of everything. In fact, only a few more tables have to be set. After that, we're done." He said to the small magician as he stroked the thick mustache and beard that covered his face, hiding the scars he had gained almost twenty years ago.

"But there has to be something I can do." Orko said, slightly disappointed.

"Orko,"

"I know! I can set the tables for you!" Orko said excitedly as he raised his hands and flexed his slender fingers.

"DON'T!" but he knew his words came too late.

Orko's fingers began to radiate with magical energy as he began to mumble words that no one could not understand. Within moments, two of the uncovered tables began to glow and slightly levitate. As soon as Orko was done casting the spell, the two tables landed on the ground and began to groan.

"Uh-oh." Orko whimpered. Those were words no one wanted to hear.

"What did you do?" Man-at-Arms asked as he heard the wood of the tables begin to groan even more. He looked back to the tables and saw workers slowly back away as the tables began to slowly swell like large balloons. Many resisted the urge to strangle the small magician as Man-at-Arms glared at him.

"Orko? What's going to happen?" he growled, sounding more like a beast than a man.

"Um, I think the term is – 'duck and cover?'" the magician asked.

"GET OUT OF HERE! THEY'RE GOING TO BLOW!"

Everyone began to flee from the dining hall as fast as they could as the tables were now so swollen that it looked like they were shuddering violently. Acting quickly, Man-at-Arms grabbed Orko and ducked down to the ground as fast as he could and tried to cover the little magician as both tables exploded violently. Strangely enough, Duncan didn't feel any debris pelting him or heat from the explosions. Instead, as he opened his eyes, he saw small brightly colored pieces of paper falling to the ground.

"What do you know, that was my confetti spell. I was so scared that I'd forgotten it a long time ago." Orko said with a small chuckle. As he glanced toward Man-at-Arms as they stood, he felt a cold chill run down his spine as he saw the middle aged captain's face turn bright red as the veins in his neck began to throb. It was obvious that he wasn't amused at all. "I'm guessing I'm in trouble?"

"That would be an understatement." The captain growled as he balled his fists out of pure habit and instinct.

"I think it's wonderful." A very sweet and feminine voice said, causing both to look to the entrance to the great hall.

Standing in the doorway was none other than the king and queen themselves. Queen Marlena was smiling as she brushed a few pieces of confetti off of her bright green dress and white cape. Randor was doing his best not to laugh at the look on his old friend's face while Orko begun to shiver from being so nervous.

"Your majesty, I can explain!" Orko began to say franticly.

"I agree with my wife, Orko. But instead of using your spell on the furniture, why not use it on the balloons instead?" Randor said with a small smile.

"Um – sure?" Orko asked, confused by the king's reaction. Whenever a spell backfired like that, he was usually scolded by King Randor. However, this looked like one of the rare moments he would be spared a stern lecture. He couldn't help but exhale a sigh of relief.

"Orko, do you know where Ron is?" Marlena asked.

"He and Kimberly are out by the stables. Drakken is trying to help them with their combat practice." The small magician said.

"Make sure that he's distracted until this afternoon, Orko. I wouldn't want his surprise to be ruined." The queen said to him.

"I'm on my way." Orko said as he immediately floated out of the great hall to find Ron. As soon as Orko was gone, Randor began to chuckle as Man-at-Arms tried to calm himself down.

"If we hadn't arrived when we had, I think your head would have erupted greater than the volcanoes in the Chaos Wastes, James." Randor said.

"If you hadn't arrived when you did, we would be short one court magician. I swear, that little imp causes more damage than a young dragon!" James said to himself as he popped his neck. "Sometimes I think things would be just so much easier if we banished him to the Evergreen Woods, or maybe to the Mystic Mountains just so things can actually be quiet for a change."

"James, you don't really mean that." Marlena said, knowing how Man-at-Arms could rant at times whenever he let his temper get the better of him. Ever since his wife Anne disappeared so many years ago, he truly hadn't been the same.

"What if I did? Every time he tries to help, things just go from bad to worse. He flooded my laboratory when he tried to get me a drink last week! And last month, when I asked him to hand me a tool in order to fix a sky sled, he thought he could fix it himself. Do you know what happened afterward? The damn thing exploded as soon as I tried to start it! I thought my eyebrows would never grow back!" James ranted as his face turned a deeper shade of purple.

"You also forget that he saved Ron's life, and has been of help to us on more than one occasion." King Randor said.

"That was by pure luck." James said to himself.

"Luck or not, James; he's more than a magician to us. He's as much a member of the Royal Family as Ronald is. And should know that by now." Randor said as the tone in his voice took on a more authoritative tone, letting James know it was time for him to calm down before he said something he would regret.

"Yes, your majesty." The captain said and bowed his head.

"Besides, just think of how boring your life would be without him." Marlena said.

"I dream of days like that." James said to himself, earning a small chuckle from the Queen.

"King Randor, sir!" a messenger said as he ran into the great hall as fast as he could. He quickly kneeled in front of the king as he tried to catch his breath and looked almost as pale as freshly fallen snow.

"What's wrong?" King Randor asked as the messenger quickly stood to his feet and handed the king the data pad he had been clutching tightly.

"I was told to deliver this to you as soon as possible, your highness." The messenger said.

Randor took the pad and began to read the data that was on it. The more he read, the more crest fallen and appalled he looked. After he was done reading the data pad, he closed his eyes and looked down.

"That will be all."

"Yes, sire." The messenger said and left the great hall as quickly as he arrived.

"Randor, what's wrong?" Marelna asked as she saw the scowl on her husband's face.

"James, please fetch Drakken and your daughter. I need to speak with all of you." Randor said, ignoring his wife's question for the time being.

"Kimberly, your highness?" James asked in confusion.

"Yes, James. The matter is urgent. I'll meet all of you in the throne room." Randor said.

"At once, your highness." Man-at-Arms said, following the same way Orko had taken only moments earlier.

"Randor, please tell me what's wrong." She said as she caressed her husband's cheek through his thick beard.

"There has been another attack by the dark raiders." Randor said solemnly.

"Another raid?"

"Much worse than the other incidents, I'm afraid. I hope I'm wrong, but it appears that war may be on the horizon." Randor said as he held his wife's hand in his. It never ceased to amaze him that her hands were so much smaller than his and almost seemed fragile at times.

"It's grown that bad?"

"I'm afraid so. Keep Ronald distracted, Marelna. He's not ready for news such as this yet." Randor said as he let go of his wife's hands and made his way to royal throne room as fast as he could. It seemed a dark storm was on the horizon for the kingdom of Eternos.

* * *

**DISCLAIMER:** He-Man is property of Mattel, and Kim Possible is property of Disney. I work with neother and wrote this for pure fun.


	2. Lord of Snake Mountain

**MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE **

By FAH3

In a vast and beautiful garden near the royal stables inside the Royal Palace, one lone figure sat cross-legged on the ground while in deep meditation. Two swords lay on either side of him while his eyes remained closed and his mind at ease. His long, some what greasy, black hair flowed in the small breeze along with his dark purple cloak that hung from his shoulders. He wore a set of light armor around his frame and kept his head bowed as his breathing remained steady. Under his left eye was a large scar that ran from the side of his nose to his cheek. A scar he had gained almost twenty years ago when he first arrived on the planet Eternia with his friend James Possible and Marlena Glenn. As he sat and felt the small breeze pass by him, he began to recall the events that lead to his current life now.

He remembered during the maiden voyage of their ship, they had been caught inside a wormhole and flung to the other side of the known universe. It was on that day they landed on Eternia, and James' wife, Anne, had disappeared. Despite the help of King Randor and his men, no one on Eternia had seen anyone resembling Anne's description. James had never been the same after that. He blamed himself for her disappearance and never forgave himself for bringing her with them.

As their injuries healed over time, all of them began to learn the language of the strange new world they were on and how the people lived there. They were even able to teach some of the Eternians their own language and a few of their traditions as well. Both James and Drew were amazed at how technologically advanced the people were, despite most of the world's civilizations looking like a combination of a Barbarian culture and early period of King Richard the Lion Heart fused with the what might be in Earth's future. The Eternians had long since learned how to balance science and nature which James and Marlena actually preferred. With the help of James and Drew's scientific knowledge, King Randor's kingdom had become one of the most advanced civilizations on Eternia and often shared the technology with other neighboring kingdoms.

The duo had created many marvelous things such as the sky sleds, transports, vessels to carry massive amounts of people in case of emergencies, as well as advanced armors to better protect Randor's soldiers. But while James had mainly focused his talents on creating devices to help others, only Drew would work with creating various weapons. He didn't like it himself sometimes, but he knew that everyone needed some way to protect themselves and that some would only understand actions more than words. But designing and inventing wasn't everything; especially if you're trying to create a new life on a strange alien world with no way home.

James, trying to find a way to distract himself from the pain and anguish of loosing his beloved wife, joined the ranks of the royal guard during the time of unrest in Eternia. James had grown to be a fierce and respected warrior in Eternia during that time, never taking a life unless he was left with no other choice and always gave mercy to his enemy. Because of these traits, James had earned the title of Man-at-Arms and was made the captain of the king's Royal Guard.

Following his friend's example, Drew had joined the royal forces as well to try and find his place in Eternia. To Drew and everyone else's surprise, Drew showed a natural talent with the sword in the art of combat. In order to hone his skills, Drew had been placed to train with some of the best sword masters in the kingdom of Eternos. Earning the title of a master swordsman rather quickly, Drew took on the name of Drakken and had fought alongside King Randor and Man-at-Arms in many battles. In several battles, Drakken had even saved King Randor's life on several occasions. Because of his bravery and skill, the King saw and welcomed Drakken as a brother and made him the godfather to his son Ronald. But what surprised Drakken and Marlena the most was that a month before Ronald was born, James had adopted a baby girl. James said that she was the daughter of a friend he made that had fallen in battle and had promised to raise the baby as his own child. But what Drakken found odd was that now, at sixteen years old, the girl almost looked exactly like James' late wife Anne.

Now here Drakken sat with two swords on either side of him, his eyes closed, and doing nothing more than taking deep breaths. As he took another deep breath, a small smirk appeared on his face.

"Too easy." He said as he turned, firmly grasping the swords, and crossed them together above his head in time to block the blow from the quarter staff that was held by a slender red-headed girl.

The girl immediately backed off and dodged the two blade strokes that came close to her skin. A fire ignited in the girl's emerald eyes as she immediately moved forward, firmly planted her quarter staff into the ground, and vaulted over Drakken's head. A soon as she touched down, she quickly spun and swept Drakken's legs out from underneath him with her leg. Drakken was quickly able to turn and rebound to his feet and immediately begin attacking the young woman fiercely. With each attack, their speed was increasing by leaps and bounds. A blade would come too close to her skin but she was able to quickly block each blow and strike at Drakken as he kept an eye on her every movement.

"Impressive, young one. But the purpose is to try and beat your opponent." Drakken said to her.

"Who said I'm trying to beat you?" Kimberly asked with a sly smirk.

Drakken was confused for a moment before he heard the set of running footsteps behind him. Drakken quickly turned and barley had enough time to block the swift down stroke of a sword that was coming at him. The sounds of steel clashing together echoed in the air as Drakken staggered backwards from the sudden blow. Another strike came at his head, but Drakken ducked in time as he gathered a hand full of dirt and flung it in the face of the new attacker. The second assailant yelled as his eyes stung and began to water, allowing Drakken to rush his attacker and knock the weapon out of the attacker's hand. With one strike from the back of his hand, the second attacker was on the ground as he flung his second blade behind him and saw the young woman dodge, spin, and saw the tip of her staff stop within inches from the side of his head.

"Impressive, Kimberly. If that had actually hit me,"

"You'd be on your back with my foot on your throat." The young redhead said with a grin as she lowered her weapon.

"But you still left yourself open too many times, though." He said to her.

"For half a second!" she said.

"Even that's long enough for an opponent to strike you down, Kimberly. You need to learn how to constantly defend yourself while keeping an eye on your enemy. You need to know what he's going to do before even they do." Drakken said as he sheathed his sword and retrieved his second blade.

"But you cheated!" his second attacker, a young blonde boy, said.

"I did not." Drakken simply said as he sheathed his second weapon while the redhead helped up her young friend.

"Yes, you did! You tossed dirt in my face." the young man said as he wiped away the dirt that was left.

"That's why you need to be ready for anything. In a real battle, your opponent will do anything he can to win a fight. Unlike here, most of the fights are for survival. And a person will do anything to stay alive. Including cheat." Drakken said to his godson.

"It's a good thing I've got KP and Rufus as back up." Ron said.

"But Kimberly won't always be there. And Rufus? Well," Drakken said as they all looked at the hairless tiger that was gnawing at a large cheese wheel. "A cowardly tiger isn't exactly back-up. Wait a minute. Where did he get that cheese?" Drakken asked as he looked at Ron and noticed the blush spreading across his face.

"It still sounds underhanded, though." Kimberly said as she brushed part of her hair out of her eye as her staff retracted into itself, becoming no longer than 12 inches.

"I say you always go with whatever works." Said an all too familiar voice that made Kim let out a small growl from her throat. Only two people had the ability to make her mad just by speaking. One was the daughter of one of the nobles named Bonnie, but since she wasn't in Eternos at the moment. That meant it had to be none other than Drakken's pain of an assistant.

"Hello, Lynn." Kim growled as Ron tried to keep his eyes from bulging out of his head.

Lynn was a few years older than Ronald and Kimberly, but she was also cocky, boastful, smug, and she had a mouth that was almost as sharp as the blades of Drakken's twin swords. Many of her skills were also superior to Kimberly'sd as well, and she loved to rub Kimberly's nose in it. The frustration got so bad that Kimberly had to try and prevent herself from breaking Lynn's face in. And she almost did when ever one would challenge the other to a sparing match. And it was during their sparing matches where the playing field was even, much to Kimberly's disappointment. Every time they fought, it was always a draw. The same number of bruises, cuts and gashes, but never a victor in their fights. Instead of calming their anger, they would always walk away more frustrated an angry than before their fight had started. So in Kim's eyes, she was nothing more than a serpent in a dress. The men of Eternia saw something completely different.

Her raven black hair flowed unbound down to the small of her back and almost made her pale skin glow in the light of the sun. As she made her way to Drakken, Ron noticed the dark emerald dress that seemed to be staying in place by a magic spell alone. There was a split on both sides of the dress that exposed her finely toned and shapely legs while her back was completely exposed. The front of the dress was a plunging V neck that barley covered her nipples and left most of her breasts exposed as well as her flat stomach and navel. The rest of the fabric seemed to cling and hug every part of her curves so well that one might think the dress had been painted on.

"H-hi, Lynn." Ron stuttered as his eyes stayed glue to Lynn's hips as the swayed with every footstep. Lynn looked at the prince for a brief moment before giving him a coy smile with her full lips that were painted in black lipstick.

"Would you roll your tongue back in your mouth?" Kim said as she jabbed Ronald in the ribs to make him act normally.

"I thought you had other duties to take care of." Drakken said to his assistant as he gave her a somewhat aggravated scowl.

"I just came to let you know about a meeting with a few of your informants later on in the day." She said to him.

"I remember, Lynn. But weren't you also to make preparations for their arrival?" Drakken asked her as his scowl seemed to slightly deepen.

"I had, but your 'right-hand man' angered your little fish again. We also have a slight snake problem in the meeting location." Lynn said and smirked as Drakken's jaw tightened. As Lynn turned and left, she made sure she gave her hips an extra bit of sway as Ronald watched.

"Damn slut." Kimberly said as she noticed how Ronald was watching the older woman, and slapped him in the back of the head.

"What?" Ronald asked his best friend, not understanding why she rolled her eyes at him. "What was that about a fish?" Ron asked his godfather.

"Long story. Don't ask." Drakken said as he rubbed the side of his head, like he was trying to force away an approaching headache.

"I didn't know you were meeting with some of your informants today." Kimberly said.

"It came up at the last minute."

"But that means you'll miss my birthday party. Can't you reschedule or something?" Ronald asked his godfather. Despite a short fuse, Ronald actually enjoyed spending time with his godfather whenever he could.

"As a lot of people used to tell me back on Earth, life isn't fair." Drakken said.

"If it were, some absent friends would still be here today." James said as he approached the trio with Orko following behind him.

"Morning, dad." Kim said and gave the old warrior a brief hug.

"Is it already time for my surprise party?" Ron asked the captain of the guard.

"WHAT? WHO TOLD YOU – I mean – I don't know what you're talking about." Orko said, causing Kim and Ron to chuckle.

"I'm afraid I'm here on royal business. Drakken, Kimberly, the King wishes to see to us in the throne room."

"Me?" Kim asked, a little confused.

"Yes, Kimmie Cub. Immediately." James said to them gravely.

"I was afraid of this." Drakken mumbled to himself as he and Kimberly began following James into the palace.

"Can I come along?" Ron asked them. He knew his father worried about Ron a lot since he wasn't exactly what you would call the athletic type or ever really eager to do anything that involved labor. But like any child, Ronald wanted to prove himself to his father. Maybe this would be a chance. But the look on James' face said it all before saying one word.

"I'm sorry, Ronald. But this is an urgent matter that requires the king's attention." James said to him.

"But,"

"No buts, Ronald. Your celebration will begin shortly, so just worry about how your mother may embarrass you instead." James said before walking back into the royal palace.

"Easy for you to say." Ronald said as his hairless tiger, Rufus, nuzzled his head against Ronald's leg in an effort to comfort him.

* * *

Inside the royal throne room, King Randor began to pace back and forth as he gazed at the report in his hand. With these dark raiders had first appeared so many months ago, their attacks were fast. They grabbed only what they needed and left just as swiftly as they had arrived. Randor didn't want to admit it at first, but he noticed how the attacks had grown worse and more violent as time progressed. And now they had enough weapons for a small army. That was bad enough, but how and where had they been able acquire siege weapons as powerful as the ones used on that village assault? Randor had appointed Drakken to try and find a way to stop these raiders some time ago, and the reports he had received on Drakken's theories and the supposed rumors and gossip along the border between the hemisphere's weren't encouraging. But if Drakken's reports were true,

"Your majesty." Man-at-Arms said as he entered with Drakken and Kimberly in tow behind him.

"Thank you for coming so quickly." Randor said as he sat in his throne and faced the three that faced him, with Kim kneeling with her head bowed down. "You can rise, Kimberly Anne. This meeting is only between us." Randor said to the young girl.

"Thank you, my king." Kimberly said.

"I'm guessing by the look on your face, this isn't about Ronald's party." Drakken said.

"I am afraid it isn't. Do all of you know about the dark raiders?" Randor asked.

"Yes, your majesty. All of Eternos knows of the havoc they have caused in their raids on the smaller villages in the kingdom. They're nothing but a band of thieves and cowards." Kimberly said.

"I'm afraid that we've been underestimating them all along." Randor said.

"What's happened?" James asked.

"A village near the Sea of Rakash was just attacked by the dark raiders. Their forces outnumbered the royal guards that protected the city. Most of the guard is dead, as well as," Randor couldn't say it. Even thinking about it, Randor refused to admit that something so horrible had actually happened. The fact that it did left a horrible taste in his mouth.

"Randor?" Drakken asked him.

"I'm, sorry. But – the raiders destroyed the temple inside the village. Every man woman and child that was in there are – I can't say it." Randor said.

But King Randor didn't need to say anything. All of them knew what he had been trying to say. Not only were most of the royal guard dead, but so were countless innocents that were trying to find a safe place to hide. Kimberly's face had gone pale with shock as James clinched his eyes closed and tried his best to control his anger. Drakken kept his gaze downward to the floor as he seemed to be within deep thought. They knew a line had been crossed, and what lay on the horizon was the one thing nobody wanted.

"You want us to be ready for war, don't you?" James asked him.

"The raiders have left me no other choice. My duty is to the people of Eternia, and I must do what I can to keep them safe. So I must make preparations for the worse. James, I need you to begin production of some of the devices we've discussed. All production facilities are to come on-line at once."

"I understand, your majesty." James said to him.

"There's more, James. I don't want you to be captain of the Royal Guard anymore. Instead, I am appointing you to be the commander of Eternos' armed forces." Randor said.

"Your Highness!" Drakken said as he stepped forward. "If Man-at-Arms is commanding the royal armies, then who will lead the Royal Guard?" Drakken asked.

"That is why I wanted Kimberly here." Randor said.

"Kimberly?" James asked.

"Me?" Kimberly asked.

"I've been keeping an eye on her progress during her combat training with Drakken over the years. Her marks are the highest in any school in the kingdom of Eternos, and all her teachers have told me she has a gift for strategy and a drive for success." Randor said as he smiled at the flustered teen. "I know the law states that the official age for entrance into the academy is eighteen, but I see that Kimberly is a unique prodigy. The kind that hasn't been seen for ages. As King of Eternos, I officially declare that from this moment onward that Kimberly Anne Possible is the new captain of my Royal Guard." Randor said as Kimberly's mouth fell open and James and Drakken looked at Randor like he had just lost his mind.

"Your majesty!" Drakken said.

"No buts, Drakken. My word is law and shall not be second guessed." Randor said as he glanced as Drakken. "Kimberly, do you think you're ready for the responsibilities I have just given you?" Randor asked her.

"I – I – really don know, sire." Kimberly said to the king.

"A wise answer, young one. If you had said you were, I would have had serious doubts about my decision." Randor said to her.

"I will do my best not to fail you, sire." Kimberly said as she bowed her head.

"That's all I ask of you. But I will also need you to take over Ronald's combat training as well."

"What?" Kimberly asked him.

"Randor, if I have done something to offend you,"

"It's not that, Drakken. I have a special assignment for you." Randor said as a holographic projector above the throne room began to display a three dimensional map of Eternia. "According to your reports, the dark raiders have been coming from deep within the dark hemisphere. From what I've been told, the leader is a powerful sorcerer calling himself Skeletor." Randor said.

"I've never heard of such a sorcerer." James said.

"Neither have I. No one has. Drakken, I need you to personally handle this matter. I need you to see if this Skeletor is real. When you find out, report back to me." Randor said.

"If this Skeletor resides in the dark hemisphere, I know of one informant that may know if he really exists or not. But it will take me some time to find him. I shall leave at once." Drakken said.

"The sooner, the better." Randor said.

"Let me come!" another voice said, causing all to look toward the main entrance to the throne room and saw Ron emerge from behind a large plant while Orko and Rufus tried to keep themselves hidden.

"I told you not to say anything." Orko mumbled to himself as he tried to pull his hat over his entire body.

"Ronald, you are not supposed to be here." Randor said sternly to his young son.

"I'm sorry, father. But please, let me join Uncle Drakken. I know I can be of help to him." Ron said, pleasing with his father.

"No, Ronald."

"But father,"

"But nothing. Eternia may be facing war as we speak, and I need Drakken to find a way to stop it before it can even begin. I don't mean to hurt you when I say this, but you are far too unbalanced and uncoordinated on your feet and with a weapon. Too much is at stake right now, son. I'm sorry, but I can not let you help in any way." Randor said and sighed as he saw the pain in both Ron's eyes and his features as the young boy's shoulders slumped. "The celebration will begin shortly, so let that be our only concern for now. Our business here is concluded." Randor said as he turned and left the throne room.

"I'll be on my way as well. Take care, Ronald." Drakken said as he patted the boy's shoulder before leaving himself.

"Are you okay, Ron?" Kimberly asked him.

"Fine." Ron mumbled as h sunk his hands into his pants pockets.

"Ron, you do know that your father is thinking about your safety." James said to him.

"I know, I know. But it feels like he doesn't have any faith in me." Ron said.

"Ronald, you are the crown prince and heir to the throne of the kingdom of Eternos. Your father just wants to make sure your ready when the time comes for you to carry that responsibility." James said.

"That still doesn't help that much." Ron mumbled.

"I know." James said as he glanced and saw two figures trying to sneak away. "YOU TWO!" James shouted, causing the hairless tiger and the court magician/jester to freeze in place. "Stay with Ronald and make sure he gets to the celebration."

"S-sure thing, Man-at-Arms." Orko said.

"Come with me, Kimberly. We have much to do, and little time to do it." James said to her and began to make his way to one of the other exits.

"I'll try and catch up with you at the celebration. Okay?" she asked her best friend.

"Sure thing, KP." Ronald said with his classic half smile.

Ronald watched his friend and her father walk away as he let out a slow deep sigh. HE knew he had a lot of responsibility ahead of him. He had known that for a long time now. But how can he be ready for it if his father insisted on babying him so much? How was he supposed to ready himself anyway? By sitting on his butt and watching holographic transmissions? To him, that didn't sound so bad. But for some odd reason, he had this strange feeling in his gut, and it wasn't from the nachos he had eaten that morning. He wasn't sure how it was possible, but he could almost swear that something inside of him was telling him that he was meant to do something greater than just be a lazy prince. And even though he had ignored that voice before in the past, something was making that voice stick in his head like a tortia chip stuck in between your teeth.

"Ronald? You okay?" Orko asked him as Rufus began to lightly paw at him.

"Yeah, sure." Ronald said as he began to think.

"Well, you want to go ahead and head to the Great Hall? I'm sure the party's going to be a blast. At least, I hope not literally." Orko said as he remembered his spell from earlier and began to slightly blush in embarrassment.

"Sure." Ron said as they began to leave. "But, do you think we can make a slight detour first?" Ron asked them.

* * *

Drakken flung a small bag with the things he needed into the passenger seat of the large vehicle before him before he wrapped himself in a dark violet cloak. He knew they kept the docking bays in the palace cold because of the various computers and systems of the many vehicles, but it sometimes felt like he had just walked into a giant freezer. He hated the cold, he always had. For some reason, he just never had a stomach for it. The only way he could stand it back on Earth was because of Christmas time, and watching the Snowman Hank Christmas Special. How he missed Snowman Hank so much. As he made sure his cloak was wrapped around his body, he climbed into the large green Wind Rider and began to power up the systems. What looked like a large yellow bird's head rose from the center of the front end as the engines began to come on line. Two large wings extended from the sides of the vehicle as one dorsal fin rose in the back.

"This is Wind Rider Four to control. Requesting immediate flight clearance." Drakken said as he opened a comm link.

"_Copy, Wind Rider Four. Awaiting authorization code."_

"Authorization code Omega Alpha 209" Drakken said, giving a high priority code that was used in emergency missions.

"_Y-yes, sir! Clearance granted, sir."_

"Acknowledged." Drakken said as the hanger bay doors opened and Drakken flew out at full throttle, sending him into the blue skies above.

* * *

The guests had finally all arrived. The food that had been brought was almost an endless buffet created by some of the best chef's in all of Eternia as the minstrels played songs. Various jesters and entertainers were in various areas of the Great Hall and entertaining the guests while various holographic images of Ronald at various ages. They had celebrated Ron's birthday before, but not like this. Ron was at an age where he would finally begin his journey to becoming a man. Yes, everything was going smoothly.

"A TOAST!" Randor said loudly as he raised his glass. "A TOAST!" he shouted one more time as all the gathered guests turned toward their king and queen. "Thank you all for coming. Today, I propose a toast to my son, Ronald. To the future that awaits him, and the man he will become!" Randor said.

"TO PRINCE RONALD!" the crowd cheered.

Randor smiled as they all drank. It was days like this he treasured the most, and hoped there would be more. But despite the cheerful atmosphere, he still had a sense of dread. King or not, the threat of war was never easy to deal with. The thought of his people being in the middle of bloodshed and violence chilled him to the bone. But what if Ronald wanted to join the royal army like he had in his youth? He knew he couldn't keep his son sheltered forever. Sometimes, he wished children would just stay children forever.

"Randor?"

"Yes, Marlena?" he asked his wife.

"Where is Ronald?" she asked him.

"I thought he was already here."

"I haven't seen him all day." Marlena said.

"That's odd. Where could he be?" Randor asked himself.

* * *

Drakken kept his attention focused on his course the entire time he was flying the Wind Rider. Ever since the Valiant crashed, he had become more of a stickler to keeping his attention focused to what he was doing. It was a miracle he had survived that crash in the first place, and he didn't want to tempt fate in that fashion again. But if Drakken had glanced at the back seat, he would have noticed the large tarp that had been placed back there. What he also would have noticed was the slight movements and whispers that were coming from beneath it.

"Get your tail out of my eye!" Orko whispered as the Rufus' tail once again batted him across the find.

"Keep quiet, Orko! Do you want him to find us?" Ron asked the small magician.

"Maybe I do! I told you this was a bad idea from the start!" Orko said to him.

"Yeah. Bad idea." Rufus mumbled.

"Since when can you talk?" Orko asked.

"Quiet!" Ron whispered as he raised an edge of the tarp to make sure his godfather hadn't heard them. So far, Drakken kept his eyes forward the entire time. "So far, so good." Ron said as he lowered the tarp and turned back to his friends.

"What's good about this? Right now, we could be pigging out on a buffet that would make a fat man drool in envy while getting a massive eyeful of royal cleavage. Instead, we're hiding in the back of a noisy wind rider on our way to the freaking dark hemisphere! Do you know what that place is like? Your own mother said that it looked like humanity's vision of hell!" Orko said.

"Enough! One way or another, I'm going to prove to my father that I'm not some klutz." Ron said.

"But what are we going to do when we get to wherever Drakken is going? Have you thought of that?" Orko asked him.

"Well – um. Ah, crap." Ron said to himself.

"Oh, boy." Rufus said.

"Maybe we can get him to turn us around and take us back to the palace."

"Guys?" Rufus asked.

"We can't do that, Orko." Ron said.

"Why not?" Orko asked him.

"Guys?"

"Because we've been in the air for over an hour an a half already. We're probably in the dark hemisphere already."

"So?"

"So? We don't know what's out here our what might happen to us if we even stop for even a second." Ron said.

"Guys!" Rufus said, gaining the attention of his master and the little sorcerer.

"What is it Rufus?" Ronald asked the tiger.

"We've stopped." The tiger whispered.

"He's right. The engines are off and the ship's perfectly still." Orko said.

Ronald carefully lifted the tarp up to see what his godfather was doing, and saw nothing. Ronald slowly peaked his head out from the edge of the tarp, and couldn't see any sign of Drakken anywhere. Ron fully sat up straight and saw that the front seats of the Wind Rider was empty; even the bag his godfather had brought with him was no longer there.

"He isn't here, guys." Ronald said.

"Finally! I was getting hot under there." Orko said as he flung the tarp off of them.

"It's still hot." Rufus said as he began to pant. They knew a large portion of the dark hemisphere was nothing but dessert and that it could get hot, but this was ridiculous. Even at mid day, it shouldn't be this hot. But it wasn't long until Orko found out why it was so high.

"Ronald?"

"Yeah, Orko?"

"Is this what humans think hell looks like?" Orko asked him.

When Ronald looked up, his eyes widened with shock. The entire land was nothing but jagged and barren rock. There was no dirt, no plants, not anything. Nothing but hard and jagged rocks. All over, there were various small volcanoes that were belching black smoke that kept the sun from shining down upon the land. Accompanied with the volcanoes were several large pools of molten lava, giving off enormous amounts of heat all around them. Orko could almost swear that he could see the hints of a river of lava not too far from them.

"Why would Drakken come all the way out here? There isn't anything here at all." Orko said.

"Think again, Orko. Look!" Ronald said as he looked up to the skies in terror. As Orko and Rufus followed his gaze, both let out a scream of terror at what they saw. They were at the base of an enormous mountain that looked more like it had pierced upward through the ground instead of being formed naturally through time. And wrapped around the mountain in a tight coil, with a massive river of hot lava pouring from it's open and jagged mouth, was a giant stone snake.

"Wh-what is it?" Orko asked as he trembled at the sight before them.

"Don't you remember the legends dad used to tell us when I was little? About King Grayskull?"

"I remember them. So?" Orko asked.

"Orko, that's Snake Mountain!" Ronald said to him.

According to the ancient legends his father had told him, all of Eternia used to be a green a thriving world. And during that time, a race of vicious humanoid reptiles known as Snake Men had tried to conquer Eternia and had turned a giant mountain into a fortress in the shape of a three-headed snake. But then, an a massive alien army from space came to Eternia. Commanded by a feared galactic tyrant known as Hordak, the alien horde defeated and enslaved the Snake Men and Hordak turned Snake Mountain into his own fortress. To prove his superiority over the Snake Men, Hordak destroyed two of the three snakeheads and laid waste to half the planet. In a last effort to defeat him, the beings of Eternia formed an alliance with King Grayskull and defeated the evil alien horde. But to this day, no one ever knew where Snake Mountain was, or if it even existed. But somehow, Ronald's godfather had discovered it's location. But the ancient fortress had been carved with so much detail that Ronald could almost swear it was going to come to life and eat him.

"Let's get out of here!" Rufus said.

"I'm with the bald cat!" Orko said.

"How do we do that? I don't know how to pilot this thing, and we don't have any clue how we got here." Ronald said.

"Well – I could try a spell?" Orko asked and noticed the looks both Ronald and Rufus were giving him. "Right, bad idea." Orko said. With the way his powers worked, he might end up sending them to the bottom of the sea or in the middle of one of these volcanoes. "Anyone have any ideas?" Orko asked them.

"We'll have to go in and find uncle Drakken." Ronald said.

"Then what?"

"Beg for mercy." Ronald said as the trio gathered their courage and slowly made their way to an entrance at the base of Snake Mountain.

* * *

"Have you found him yet?" Randor asked James as he and Kimberly re-entered the great hall.

"Not yet, your highness." James said.

"This doesn't make sense. Ron would never miss a banquet like this. Ever." Randor said as his brow furrowed with worry.

"He did look pretty hurt when you told him he couldn't help Drakken." Kimberly said.

"I know. But I was just trying to protect him." Randor said.

"My King, what did you used to do when your father did that to you?" James asked him.

"When I was in that situation, I would do my best to prove to him – oh no." Randor said.

"You don't think Ron actually snuck away with Drakken, do you?" Kimberly asked the two adults.

"It wouldn't be the first time he's tried it." James said.

"But the last time he pulled a stunt like that, Orko had to save him from the swamps." Randor said. "James, I need you to try and find them." Randor said to his most trusted friend.

"I shall leave at once. The Wind Rider's tracking systems should allow me to lock onto it with a sky sled. Kimberly, you're in charge in my absence." James said to his daughter.

"I'll do the best I can, father." Kim said to him.

"I'll activate the castle's defense systems and put them on high alert until I return." James said to Randor.

"On high alert?"

"If the raiders were willing to wage a full attack on a village, there's no telling what they might try next. Better safe than sorry." James said.

"Very well. But find my son as quickly as you can, Man-at-Arms." Randor said to him.

"Don't worry, I will." James said as he turned and quickly left.

* * *

Despite the caves being hot and humid, Ronald was shivering with every footstep he took. The caverns were dark and barley lit with any light as the drops of condensation made the stone walls feel more like living slime than stone. Even the very air that passed through the caverns with them almost sounded like the cavern it self was growling and snarling at them. He and the other two with him had no idea where they were, and didn't know if they were even any closer to finding Drakken. Ron knew he had his moments where he came up with the stupid ideas, but; it seemed like this idea had topped them all. Why couldn't he have listened to everyone and just stay at the banquet instead of coming here?

"Ronald, I'm scared." Rufus said.

"You're not the only one." Orko said as he began to bite his nails.

"It'll just be a little bit longer, guys." Ronald said to them.

"How do you know?" Rufus asked him.

"Because I think I see a light up ahead. With luck, we might be able to find our way out." Ron said as he noticed that more of the cavern ahead was illuminated. He just wished he could believe the words that just came out of his mouth.

Soon, the small trio made it to the end of the ominous cavern, and saw that their hope turned to fear and dread faster than the heart beat of a hummingbird. They didn't know how, but they had wondered onto the balcony that overlooked a massive throne room inside of Snake Mountain. The floor of the throne room itself seemed to be made of a smooth stone that almost looked to like gold and marble had been combined as one. Two massive vents, leading to a large chamber filled with boiling magma beneath the throne room, were close to the walls of the throne and almost transformed the floor into a wide catwalk. The throne itself had been made out of the placing and binding the bones of various large predatory animals, with the skull of a giant manticore covering the top of the throne. The throne sat on a large stone podium, with two giant snake statues coiled and ready to strike on either side of the throne. On the wall behind the throne was larbe piece of black cloth with what looked to be a screaming skull painted in blood red. And lined along the walkway to the throne and the entrance to the throne room were soldiers in black armor and with what almost looked like dried blood smeared on their soldiers.

"I thought Snake Mountain was abandoned." Orko said as they stared down at the sight before them.

"So did I. But who could be living here now?" Ron asked his two friends.

Ron's question was soon answered as the doors to the throne room were thrown open as several people entered. The first two people that entered was a man and a woman. The man wore a pitch-black cloak with the hood covering his head. He wore a suit of black armor that almost looked like it had been sculpted from volcanic rock as he clutched a large staff with what appeared to be the skull of a ram sitting on the end of it. The woman wore a black skin tight black body suit along with a chest piece, gauntlets, and combination helmet and mask that looked to be made out of pure jade. Her hair was jet black, tied into a braided ponytail with its length stretching down to the small of her back. From the belt around her waist hung was a small staff that was shaped into a large claw holding a large crystal ball.

Two men were following behind them, but keeping their distance. One man wore a suit of green armor while the appearance of his head suggested that he might have been a cyborg. The second one, a large man with blue skin, was an obvious cyborg whose components looked like they were taken from a scrap yard.

"Report, Shego. SPEAK!" the man in cloak shouted in a voice that sounded more like a growling beast.

"The weapons we captured are secured. The reverse engineering is complete and the construction of duplicate weapons is under way as we speak." The woman said as the cloaked figure made his way to the throne.

"What about the siege weapons? All of them were supposed to be on-line a week ago!" the cloaked man said.

"We've encountered a few problems, but Tri-Klops has insured they will be ready within the hour. They should be ready in time for the attack." The woman, Shego, said as the man finally stepped up to his throne.

"I want Randor kneeling at my feet." The cloaked figure growled.

"Don't worry, my Lord. Eternos will be ours." Shego said to him.

"**NO!"** the man screamed as he spun to face the people before him. The hood of his cloak still kept his head covered, but his face was hidden by a mask that had been shaped to look like a sinister looking skull. As his voice echoed throughout the room, several of the soldiers and the cyborgs cowered in fear as he slowly sat down in the throne ad gripped his staff tightly. "Mine." He growled as he glared at the people gathered in front of him.

"Eternos?" Ron asked in shock.

"I've got a bad feeling about this." Rufus said.

"Shego has informed that negotiations with Mer-Man have failed. I demand to know what happened." The man in the skull mask demanded as the large cyborg with blue skin stepped forward and kneeled before him.

"My Lord. During the negotiations – complications that were - not foreseen arose." He said and cast his gaze downward.

"I guess calling Mer-Man a pitiful excuse for a guppy would be a complication. Or did you call him a goldfish, Trap Jaw?" Shego asked with a sadistic smile as the large cyborg began to tremble with fear.

"So you opened your fat mouth and insulted Mer-Man to his face. Is that correct?" the cloaked figure asked calmly.

"My Lord,"

" Is. That. Correct?" the man asked slowly.

"I-it is, my Lord." The man said. "But he started it! The arogance he had was,"

"I DON'T WANT TO HEAR IT!" the cloaked man said as he jumped to his feet and grasped his chest plate that had the shape of two crossed bones in its center. As soon as he clutched the symbol, the large cyborg began to scream and writhe in pain as his cybernetic parts began to overload and electrocute him. After several long and agonizing moments of intense pain, his machine components began to shut down as their weight almost brought him completely down onto the ground.

"I outh! I outh!" the cyborg moaned as his metal jaw hung open and unresponsive.

"Do you know how many forces are at Randor's command alone? That even with our plan, even with our present resources, we are still outnumbered three to one?" the man shouted as he began to walk toward the fallen commander. "With Mer-Man's forces, not only can I gain control of the islands surrounding Eternia's shores, but I can conquer the coasts as well! I could close in on not only Randor, but the other kingdoms as well. Now thanks to your insufferable ineptitude, EVERYTHING I HAVE STRUGGLED TO CREATE AND CONTROL MAY FALL APART AT THE SEEMS! And if that happens, I will personally rip every single piece machinery off and out of your worthless hyde!" the man screamed.

"Ease or Eleor! Ar ee." The paralyzed cyborg begged.

"I am not in a forgiving mood this day." The man growled as he glared at the terrified soldier in front of him. "However, I can not afford to loose any of my forces. But just remember this, Trap Jaw. When I found you, you were nothing but a pathetic excuse of the soldier you once were. It is through my efforts and resources that you're not a pathetic, bed ridden, cripple begging for death!" the man said as he clutched his chest plate again, and allowed the cyborg's components to come back on-line.

"Th-thank you, Lord Skeletor." The cyborg said as he stood to his feet and stepped away from his master.

"Skeletor?" Ron asked to himself.

"T-t-that's the guy your dad was talking about?" Orko asked. "We've got to get out of here!" Orko said as he tried to float away, only for Ron to grab him by the collar of his shirt and almost choke him as a result.

"We can't leave now. We have to learn as much as we can so we can warn dad." Ron said to his floating friend.

"I say we let Drakken handle it." Rufus said.

"That's right. We haven't seen Uncle Drakken anywhere. We'll have to find him before we leave." Ron said.

"Why?" Rufus asked.

"Because he's the only on who can pilot the Wind Rider." Orko said.

"I don't – what a-are those?" Rufus asked as he looked back down into the throne room.

The others turned and had to do their best not to scream at what they saw. Standing before Skeletor were two creatures that were supposedly now very few and deep in hiding. Snake Men! One was very large and obviously strong. Despite being a reptilian creatures, the muscles of his body were very pronounced and well defined. It seemed the few clothes he wore were having a hard time staying on him. The tail that extended from his hips looked equally as strong with a large rattle attached to the end of it. The other snake man seemed to be his exact opposite. He wasn't as tall as the larger reptile, but seemed to be of a more athletic build. But unlike the larger reptile, it seemed that the smaller had lost his tale some time ago.

"Your reason for being hear had better be a good one, Rat-Lor." Skeletor said as he scowled at the large snake man.

"My men and I are starving. We need fresh air and food like any other creature on this despicable planet. But instead of keeping your word, you have us locked away in the caverns beneath Eternia like we were common pests!" the large serpent said.

"On the contrary. I am giving you and your snake men Subturnia to conquer once Eternos is mine."

"LIAR! You said,"

"I said I would give a piece of Eternia to your people if you served me. I never said that it would be _above_ ground." Skeletor said.

"YOU HAVE NO RIGHT! WE WERE HERE FIRST, SKELETOR! MY RACE CREATED SNAKE MOUNTAIN, YOU BACK STABBING, SON OF A,"

"**ENOUGH!" **Skeletor screamed as he stood to his feet and aimed his staff at the giant serpent. A bolt of violet energy shot forth from the staff and struck the serpent in its chest. Rat-Lor sailed through the air in an arc and landed with a hard thud to the stone floor before skidding to a stop. The giant snake could barley move as black smoke rose from the fresh third degree burn that now lay on the center of his chest.

"You forget, Rat-Lor. Your people may have created Snake Mountain, but Hordak banished your ruler and his armies into an eternal limbo within these walls. You came to me for help because I am the only in Eternia that can free him. So if you ever raise your voice to me again, I shall pluck the fangs from your mouth." Skeletor said. "Do you have anything to say, Cobra Kahn?" Skeletor asked the smaller serpent.

"N-no, Lord Skeletor." The small reptile said.

"Then take your – 'superior' – and be gone from my sight." Skeletor said as two of his soldiers drug the larger, injured, reptile away.

"Ronald, can we get out of here now? Please?" Orko asked him.

"Yeah, I think it's time to leave. Let's find Uncle Drakken and get back home." Ronald said to them.

As they turned to re-enter the cavern, Ronald's footing began to slip on the stone balcony. As panic began to take over his young mind, he desperately tried to cling onto anything that would keep him from falling over the edge and into the den of villains below him. For a brief moment, it actually looked like he was going to fall and plummet to his death. Everything he had learned, everything he had tried to do, all of it was for nothing. As the cavern entrance began to fall away from him, his fall was stopped as Orko grabbed onto his left arm and Rufus firmly grasped his hand with his mouth. The sudden halt of his decent caused his train of thought to come to a crashing stop for a brief moment as he began to realize what was going on. Soon, with his friends help, Ron found himself on the balcony once more as he felt his heart pounding hard within his chest.

"Thank – thank you." Ronald panted as he tried to calm himself.

"That was a close one, Ronald." Orko said to him.

"Yeah. You almost let them know we were here." Rufus said as he sat down and his tail brushed against part of the stone balcony and knocked a piece of it off.

All three looked in frozen horror as they saw the large chunk of stone fall away from them and land with a loud crash onto the throne room floor below. Soon, the gaze of everyone in throne room was now on them. Including a very angry Skeletor.

"INTRUDERS!" Trap Jaw shouted.

"It's the royal prince!" Shego shouted.

" CAPTURE THEM! I WANT THEM ALIVE!" Skeletor shouted as the soldiers began to move.

"RUN!" Ronald shouted as he and the others sprinted back into the cavern.

All of them ran as fast as they could through the tunnels and vast cavers, trying to remember which way they had come. Their lungs burned and muscles began to ache as they forced themselves to keep running as fast as they could. Behind them, beside them, even above them, it sounded like Skeletor's troops were gaining on them. Ronald wished he could find his uncle at that moment. He might now what to do at a time like this. He should have just listened to everyone and stayed at that party and be bored to death. No, he didn't. He knew that. He had important information to get to his father. He had to warn everyone that the lunatic back there was going to mount an attack. He was the kingdom's only hope. He had to get out of there! Keeping the image of his family and friends inside his head, Ronald pushed himself harder and harder still. Running through the caverns and taking last minute turns through different corridors, the trio hopped they would find the way out soon.

"Look up ahead!" Oko shouted.

Ahead of them looked like a large entrance that had a perfect view of the sky outside. They actually did it! They found a way out. Or at least, they thought they had until they came closer to the opening, and realized where they were. All of them skidded to a stop when they realized they were now standing in the open mouth of the giant snake statue that was coiled around the mountain. The only way out was to jump down to the ground which was now several hundred feet below them. And to make maters worse, an unseen lava tube was pouring molten lava into a large pool at the base of the mountain that had to be four times the size of the royal gardens back home.

"We're dead." Rufus moaned as they heard the sounds of the soldiers getting closer.

"Orko, can you do a teleporting spell?" Ronald ask him.

"I think so. Wait a minute. You're not suggesting,"

"Orko, it's the only way out of here!" Ronald said to the magician.

"But you know my magic works backwards! We could end up in the sands of fire for all I know!"

"It's better than here!" Ron shouted as he looked back and could see distant shadows beginning to grow larger.

"But there's another problem. I only have enough magic to teleport me and one other person." Orko told him and saw Ron begin to think.

"Then take Rufus with you and warn mom and dad." Ronald said.

"No way!" Rufus said.

"We can't leave you!" Orko protested.

"Just do it! NOW!" Ron shouted as he looked over his shoulder and could begin to see hints of the soldiers now. Ron heard Orko start to speak strange words he had never heard before and began to turn back to them. By the time he turned his head, they had vanished in a puff of smoke. Ronald let out a small sigh of relief, knowing that his friends were safe and they could warn his father.

Ron then shouted as he felt something sharp pierce his shoulder with enough force to knock him down to the hot stone floor. Ronald quickly reached to his injured shoulder and felt a thin dart sticking into him. He quickly yanked the dart out, hissing at the pain as he began to feel very sick and his vision begin to blur. He tried to sit upright, but his body felt like it had become a large lead weight. As Ronald felt his entire body collapse onto the floor, he looked up to see the one called Trap Jaw over him as he chuckled. The metal helmet in his head and metal jaw almost made him look more like a predator than a cyborg or even remotely human.

"Welcome, your highness. Let me extend to you a royal greeting." He said before he raised his leg and kicked Ronald in the head as hard as he could.


	3. Dark Horizon

**MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE **

By FAH3

Ronald's head felt like a thrashing newborn dragon that was fixing to get its first bath. As he began to wake up, he remembered what had happened to him. He had been drugged with a strange dart, and that ugly cyborg kicked him in the head. What was his name? Trap –something or other. He just remembered that it looked like he had a bear trap for a lower jaw. Wait a minute. Orko had teleported away with his pet hairless Tiger Rufus. So that meant Ronald was still trapped inside Snake Mountain with that lunatic in the skull mask, Skeletor! Despite the pain that seemed to be reverberating inside his head with just about every move he made, Ronald did his best to at least force himself to sit up and let his back lean against a near by wall. Despite wearing a shirt and vest, he could still heat coming from the stone wall like it was a hot iron. Ron opened his eyes and squinted them in pain. The lighting was mostly dim, but even that little amount of light seemed to hurt his eyes. Ron slowly opened his eyes again and let himself deal with the pain in order to see where he was.

What he saw made him think of those old Earth horror his mother used to tell him about years ago. Two stories in particular at that moment. The stories about the vampire Count Dracula and the mad Dr. Frankenstein. He was in a cage, or possible a jail cell. But it was what he saw through the bars of the cell that scared him. What he saw before him seemed a bizarre and horrific combination of both. The cavern in front of him was massive, probably about three stories tall. There were two, possible three entrances, but most of the walls seemed to be lined with cages of various size that looked to have been carved into the stone walls of the cavern. Hanging from the ceiling and placed in various other places of the cavern were machines that looked to have nefarious purposes. Some seemed to have strange tools, but it was obvious that they were created for cutting. He could see jagged edges on many of them. There were also different liquids in containers of various colors and thickness. Some seemed to be boiling while others were being stirred and put together by some of the various machines. And operating one of the machines was a man in green armor with an odd looking helmet covering his head and the upper portion of his face that had a single eye piece in the center.

"W-who are you?" Ronald asked, but winced as he did so. His voice felt like sandpaper scratching the inside of his throat as he spoke.

"You're awake. For a moment, I thought Trap Jaw had killed you." The man said as he looked up from his work for a brief moment.

"Trap who?" Ronald asked.

"Trust me, you don't want to know. It's bad I have to work with the mechanical bastard." The man said as he went back to his work while his helmet began to shift and a different eyepiece was rotated into place. "But Lord Skeletor should be pleased that you're awake."

"For the moment." A sinister voice said as Skeletor and Shego entered the large and ominous laboratory. "How is he?"

"Alive, for the most part." Tri-Klops said.

"I don't envy the headache he's probably got right now." Shego said with a sadistic smirk. Despite the mask she wore, Ronald could almost swear that he had seen that woman somewhere before.

"We shall deal with him later, Shego. What about the recruit? Or should I say, our volunteer?" Skeletor asked.

"He's right over here." Tri-Klops said as he walked over to a near by cage and opened it. Reaching inside, Tri-Klops tossed out a man by the root of his long and unwashed red hair. His clothes were in tatters, and it looked like he had been beaten within an inch of his life several times. Despite his various injuries, he still sat up and kneeled before Skeletor. "The fool still pledges to serve you." Tri-Klops said.

"Is this true?" Skeletor asked the man.

"Yes, Lord Skeletor. I want to serve you in any way I can." The man said.

As the man looked up, Ronald recognized him. Last season, the circus had come to Eternos with a new animal trainer. The man looked like he could talk to the animals, but was arrested soon after the circus' first performance. He and Kimberly snuck backstage, and discovered he had several illegal animals in one of the habitats. One of them looked like a large gorilla with a horn on its head and with yellow eyes. When Kimberly and himself told Man-at-Arms what they saw, Randor revealed that the animal was a Shadow Beast. A nocturnal creature that was rarely seen, but was known to be very dangerous and violent. The trainer was imprisoned and then banished from Eternos.

"After what you've been through, this proves that either you are truthful, or a very dedicated spy for King Randor." Skeletor said.

"I have no love for Randor!" the man said as he spit on the ground at Randor's name. "Because of him, I've lost everything! My contacts, my friends, everything!" the man said.

"So you want revenge against King Randor?" Skeletor asked him.

"My only wish is to feed him to the animals he has taken from me." The man said to Skeletor.

"Yes, about that. Is it true that you have a power over them?" Shego asked him.

"More of a deep bond. It's almost like I can speak to them and understand them. I don't have control over them, but I can earn their trust easily." The man said.

"Tri-Klops?" Skeletor asked the green cyborg.

"My tests show he does have some psychic activity that deals with only animals. If my calculations are correct, he could be a valuable asset to us." The cyborg said.

"Excellent." Skeletor said as he grasped the kneeling man by his hair and forced him to look up even further. "You swear to follow my orders to the letter? Even if it's to march off to your own death?"

"I swear, my Lord." The man said.

"Good. But if you're to serve me, you'll have to be – enhanced. Proceed, Tri-Klops." Skeletor said.

Tri-Klops grasped a small gun with a needle on the end of it. Tri-Klops removed a bubbling yellow chemical from a burner and filled a small vile that was in the back of the gun and sealed it. Tri-Klops then grinned with glee as he grabbed the kneeling man's head and tilted it and exposed the man's neck. Without even looking to see if he was inserting the needle into a vein, Tri-Klops jammed the gun into the man's neck and injected the hot liquid. The man screamed as he felt the liquid burn him from the inside before collapsing into a heap.

The man began breathing faster as several of his muscles began to quiver on their own accord. Soon the man was screaming in agony as he tried to grip the stone floor. With avid fear, Ron watched as the man screamed in pain and saw the quivering muscles begin to grow and expand. The remains of his clothes began to rip and tear away as his legs, arms, and chest expanded in size. He also began to bend forward even further, as if he was partially becoming a hunchback. As he sat up and screamed again, Ron could see his face change and shift, looking more like a caveman as his incisors extended and became fangs. The fingernails on his hands looked to be reseeding into his skin as the skin on his fingertips split and curved sharp claws began to extend. The hair on his body then began to grow longer and thicker, covering his chest, shoulders and neck. It also looked to become somewhat softer, like it was a mane more than body hair. Even his feet were extending and growing claws as the hair on the top of them began to become thicker like a coat of fur. The screaming soon stopped, but every breath the man took now sounded more like the growls of a rabid wolf.

The man sat back on his knees as he continued to pant with his face covered in a cold sweat. His eyes opened to reveal that they were now more cat like than human, and were now a bright yellow of a wild dog. He looked down at his hands and the rest of his body, unable to believe what had now happened to him. As he looked back up at Skeletor, he began to small and laugh at the same time.

"Do you still swear to serve me?"

"Until my last breath, Lord Skeletor." The manimal said.

"Then rise and serve your master. From this day forward, you are now the Beastman." Skeletor said as the creature stood to its full height.

"Y-you people are sick!" Ronald said as he closed his eyes for a moment as his body surged with pain.

"Still awake, are we? I'm impressed. Most people in your situation would have passed out again by now." Skeletor said as he walked to Ronald's cage.

"You're a sick freak. I – oh God. I won't – let you hurt m-my dad." Ronald said as a wave of intense nausea swam over him.

"I'm afraid there's nothing you can do, young prince. I've been planning this attack for several seasons. And I'm afraid no one knows you're here." Skeletor said to him.

"_He doesn't know about Rufus and Orko!"_ Ronald thought to himself. "My Uncle. H-he knows you're here." Ron said with pride. His uncle was the most resourceful person he knew. He knew there was a chance Orko and Rufus where no where even close to home, but there was always his uncle. With luck, Drakken was halfway back to the royal palace by now.

"You mean Drakken?" Skeletor said as he began to laugh with Shego joining in. It was as if what Ronald had just said was nothing more than some joke to them. "I'm afraid, your highness, that your uncle is no longer a factor."

"What?" Ron asked in shock. "W-what did you do to him?" Ron asked as he tried to stand, and almost gagged as he did soo and fell back down to the floor.

"Your uncle will not be telling anything to Randor about us, or our plan."

"Then I – I'll,"

"You won't be telling anyone anything either. In a few short hours, you'll just be a bitter sweet memory." Skeletor said to him.

"W-what?" Ronald asked him.

"You've noticed how sick you've been feeling? Like you want to throw up, or your head is filled with rocks? What Trap Jaw shot you with isn't a tranquilizer. It's a slow acting poison that's been injected into your body. It lets the victim's last hours of life be a somewhat unpleasant experience." Skeletor said as he began to walk away. "Assemble the troops. We march toward Eternos immediately." Skeletor said as Beastman and Tri-Klops followed.

"Long live the royal prince." Shego said with one last look at Ron before she left.

"You – jerk." Ronald groaned before passing out once more.

* * *

"Ronald? Come on, wake up!" someone was telling him as he was being shaken. With more effort than he could remember, Ronald forced himself to wake up and saw Orko floating above him with a very worried look. Wait a minute. Orko?

"W-what are you doing here?" Ronald asked weakly.

"Saving you, is what. Orko was able to pick the cage's lock." Another familiar voice said.

"Rufus? B-but I,"

"I cast a spell of invisibility on us. There was no way we were going to leave you here." Orko said and noticed how pale Ronald looked. "What's wrong with you?"

"That ugly – cyborg. H-he poisoned m-me." Ronald said as he felt sick to his stomach.

"Say what?" Rufus asked.

"Help me, flea bag." Orko said as he tried to lift Ronald to his feet. Rufus quickly maneuvered himself by Ronald and soon felt the boy laying across his back. "Now we need to find a way out of here." Orko said.

"T-they're h-heading to Eternos." Ronald said weakly.

"We'll have to find a way out of here. Can you find their scents?" Orko asked Rufus.

"There's one in here that smells like a skunk ape, but I can follow it." Rufus said.

"Then let's make like a tree and leave!" Orko said as they quickly left the ominous laboratory of horrors.

* * *

On the southern edge of the Evergreen Forest, standing in the center of a large chasm, is the ruins of proud Castle Grayskull. For countless centuries, the massive fortress has stood as a symbol and monument to what once was and to the era it had once helped to forge. Many have thought that the ancient ruins had been empty since the death of King Grayskull and the rise of the Council of Elders, but all have been mistaken. For many years now, only one has lived within the walls of Castle Grayskull, protecting its secrets from those who would abuse its powers. It was part of the agreement she had made with Grayskull's original guardian in order to protect those she cared for, and one she must keep for the rest of her days. The Sorceress of Grayskull sat in the ancient library in deep meditation and thought. Letting her mind expand beyond the confines of her body, she could see almost across the entire planet of Eternia and into the space above them. She could sense the energy of so many living things and feel the vibrations and harmonies of the magic that flowed throughout the planet itself.

However, something was troubling her. The energy of one being seemed to be strange, almost strained. What was more unsettling was it was the energy of one being she had kept her eye on for quite some time. Concentrating on the one being in her mind, her consciousness began traveling across the face of Eternia. Strange, though. She flew past the royal palace, and was now beyond the borders of the kingdom of Eternos. This was odd. Why would he be this far away from his home? A feeling of dread began to fill her as she now crossed into the dark hemisphere and across the sands of fire. Her anxiety began to skyrocket as she crossed into a volcanic wasteland where the air itself was almost deadly to breath. When her consciousness came into a large, hideous mountain that seemed to glare at her. It was filled with dark magic that she had never seen before, that almost screamed for her to go away. And within the hideous mountain was the being she was looking for, and she now knew why the energy was so weak. The person she had searched for had been poisoned. He was dying!

"No!" she whispered to herself as she forced her eyes open and immediately stood to her feet. Pressing her hands to her temple, she began to search for the one man who might be able to help. Wait. Something had changed. The being wasn't alone anymore. He was with friends, but they were moving now, but they were still in terrible danger. There was no time to waste, the being needed help as soon as possible.

* * *

Massive clouds of eye watering sand rose higher and higher as the caravan of Skeletor's army and their weapons marched onward through the sands of time. The soldiers and their commanders all wore helmets and masks, helping them to see through the dust clouds their machines kicked up and allowed them to breath fresh filtered air. But at the end of the caravan, hiding in the nook of one of the massive tanks, three friends sat in a very cramped space. Normally, they all would be complaining about their means of travel or how little room they had. All of that didn't matter anymore as Ronald began to grow more pale, and dark circles began to form under his eyes.

"Keep him awake, Rufus." Orko said as the transport they were hiding in jerked once again.

"I'm trying. Just make sure he doesn't fall out." Rufus said as he began to lick Ronald in the face once more. Ronald coughed several times as his eyes watered from all the massive amounts of sand in the transport's wake before turning to his hairless friend.

"No offence, buddy; but your tongue feels like sandpaper." Ronald said as he began to fall toward the opening they had crawled through.

"No you don't!" Orko said as he quickly grabbed Ronald by his vest and pulled him back inside. "Come on, Ron. You've got to sit up straight."

"I-I'm trying, O-Orko. But I just f-feel – so tired." Ronald said as he began taking several deep and shallow breaths.

"He's getting worse. Isn't there anything you can do?" Rufus asked.

"I wish there was." Orko said and saw that Ronald was starting to fall toward the opening in the vehicle again. "No you don't!" Orko said as grabbed Ron by his vest once again, but his yellow eyes widened as he saw the vest was starting to rip! "RUFUS, HELP!"

"What can I do?"

"GRAB MY ROBE, QUICK!" Orko shouted as more of Ronald's vest began to rip further.

Rufus quickly bit down onto the end of Orko's hovering robe and tried his best to pull both of them back into the hiding place as best as he could. If it had been just Orko, the task would have been simple enough. With Ronald, it would have required a little more effort but he would have managed. But both of them at the same time? Rufus was pulling as best as he could, but the strain was beginning to be too much for his neck as he felt his paws slipping against the cold metal and Orko's robe begin to slip from between his teeth. The one thought that went through the large tiger's head at that moment was simply _"This is going to hurt."_

Despite Rufus' efforts, all three friends soon found themselves tumbling out of their hiding place in the large transport and tumbling into the harsh blazing hot sands. How they were able to miss the tracks of the large transport they had been hiding in was a miracle in itself. Heads over tails they tumbled onto the ground as the clouds of sand stung their eyes and made it unable for them to see. As they rolled to a stop, all of them began coughing and hacking, desperately trying to get the sand they had inhaled out of their lungs as the caravan sped away. After letting the dizziness he was suffering pass, Orko saw Ronald laying still and quickly rushed to him to make sure he was still alive. Orko was shocked to see that Ronald had become paler while it looked like he began to have trouble breathing. If he and Rufus didn't get help for Ronald soon, there was a good chance he was going to die.

"Rufus?" Orko asked and looked behind him, but saw no sign of the tiger anywhere. "Rufus? RUFUS!" Orko shouted.

"I'm over here." The tiger said as he stood and shook off the large amount of sand that had almost buried him alive.

"You've got to carry Ronald. From here, we're running." Orko said.

"Are you kidding me?" Rufus asked him.

"We don't have a choice now. Ronald's life is at stake." Orko said as he tried to lift Ronald by his shoulders. "Don't just stand there, help me!"

"Orko, are there any birds in the dessert?" Rufus asked him.

"Probably just buzzards. Why do you ask?" Orko asked him.

"Because I think I see one coming." Rufus said.

"What?" Orko asked and looked up. There was something in the distance that was flying toward them all right, but it was too big to be a buzzard. In fact, it was too big to be a bird, period. As it came closer to them, Orko could make out its shape a little more clearly. In fact, it looked like a man. A man riding a sky sled! Orko didn't know if it was one of Skeletor's army, or an Eternian soldier. The only thing that mattered right now was Ron and getting him the help he needed. Putting his hands together, Orko formed a ball of energy that was the size of a softball and made sure the man on the sky sled was still there. With a great deal of concentration and determination, Orko shot the ball of energy high into the air and and saw it explode like a massive firework. Orko quickly looked back to the man in the sky sled and waited. Seconds seemed to past like hours as he kept his eyes glued to the silhouette in the distance. Orko's heart felt like it began to sink deeper and deeper into his gut the longer he kept his eyes fixed on the man. All that energy had been wasted for – no, it hadn't! The man on the sky sled was changing course and heading toward them! It worked!

"Don't worry, Ronald. You're going to be all right." Orko said to his sick friend.

* * *

Kimberly Anne Possible was in the main security control room, checking to see if there had been any word from her father. It had been several hours since he went to look for prince Ronald, but he hadn't reported in yet. Kimberly was getting very worried about both her father and her best friend. She knew Ronald wanted to prove himself, but she wished he hadn't decided to do something so dangerous. They hadn't gotten into several situations before, but he was the one that always tried to talk her out of doing something stupid. Now he goes and pulls something like this. What was he thinking?

"Ma'am!"

"What is it, lieutenant?" Kimberly asked as she walked to one of the techs.

"We're getting a coded transmission, ma'am. I'm running a check on the identification code within it." The tech said as his hands worked across the various keyboards. "It's Man-at-Arms, ma'am."

"Thank the Elders. Decode that transmission at once."

"Already doing so." The tech said as the message was decoded and displayed in front of them.

"Is the message still encrypted?" Kimberly asked.

"No, Ma'am."

"Then the message must be corrupted."

"It's still intact, ma'am."

"Then why are we just seeing numbers?"

"I don't think they're random numbers. I think – these are coordinates. It's a location." The tech said.

"I've studied maps, lieutenant. And those aren't standard map coordinates." Kimberly said to him.

"These aren't for maps, ma'am. These are numbers to some of our beacons. We use them to monitor the kingdom's borders in locations we can't place normal outposts. And if I enter these numbers into the beacon database, it should activate the beacon closest to the location Man-at-Arms just sent us." The tech said and began to input the coordinates. On a smaller monitor, one of the beacons came on-line and displayed an image of the three towers of Eternia, right along the border of the two hemispheres. And so far, all they could see was nothing but the terrain.

"I don't see anything, ma'am. Why would Man-at-Arms send us these coordinates?" the tech asked.

"There has to be a reason." Kimberly said as examined the monitor closely. One thing her father had taught her was that things weren't always what they appeared to be. "Upper right quadrant. Zoom in."

"Yes, ma'am." The tech said as he made the beacon focus on the location she had just mentioned. It was still pretty far, but it looked like a massive dust cloud in the sands of fire. "What is that?" the tech asked himself.

"Can you zoom it in any further?" Kimberly asked him.

"No ma'am. This is as far as it'll focus."

"What about sensor readings?" she asked him.

"Maybe. The sensors have long range settings. I might be able to get a small reading of whatever – what the hell?"

"What's wrong?" Kimberly asked him.

"The dust cloud is flooded with neutrino emissions. But the amount is so massive, it would have to be several large vehicles." The tech said.

"A caravan?" she asked, but she knew his answer would be no. Even the largest caravans didn't have emissions that big.

"The only vehicles I've seen that can put out this much energy are our attack weapons. And if these readings are right, there's enough to take over a several villages."

"Or attempt an attack on the palace. Get all civilians to the shelters and lockdown every square inch of the palace. Secure the Queen and King, and have every soldier armed and at defensive positions." Kimberly said as the alarms began to go off. "Lieutenant, what's your name?" she asked him.

"Wade Load, ma'am."

"If we survive this, I'm putting you in for a commendation." Kimberly said as she made her way to the armory. It was time to get ready for a fight.

"Of course the key word is if." Wade said as he felt fear and anxiety begin to fill him.

* * *

With a deep breath, a very contented sigh escaped Ronald's lips. As he began to come out of a dreamless sleep, he savored the feel of a soft feather matress and the coolness of the silk sheets that covered. It was times like this he enjoyed the most. But there was something wrong here. In fact, he shouldn't be on a soft bed right now. Before he had passed out, he had been in the dessert with Orko and Rufus. They were trying to get back to the royal palace so they could warn his father about something. But warn him about what? He had to remember. It was something important. It had something to do with – a skull? No, it wasn't a skull. But something that looked like a skull. It was something that was dark and evil. It was –

"SKELETOR!" Ronald shouted as his eyes bolted open and he quickly sat upward. As his eyes focused, he saw that he wasn't in the dessert anymore. In fact, he didn't know where he was.

As Ron slid himself off of the large bed, he saw that he was in a large room that had large elaborate bookcases, each of them were filled to their brims with various books and scrolls. There were several objets hung on the walls and on a large writing desk that he didn't recognize. As Ronald gazed about the room, he saw a large mirror that hung in one corner that had a strange and elaborate design to it. It was almost like it had been shaped to be a door instead of a mirror. Just where in the world was he and how did he get here? That wasn't that important right now. He had to get out of here so he could warn everyone about the invasion Skeletor was about to launch. Everyone he knew was in danger!

"_Stay calm, young prince."_ A voice said inside of his head. That dart that cyborg hit him with must be causing more harm to him than he thought. _"There is nothing wrong with you, Prince Ronald. Follow my voice, and all will be explained."_

"Follow her voice?" Ronald asked himself. How was he going to do that? The voice was in his head. And there wasn't a door anywhere. Just shelves, knick knacks, and a weird looking – it was gone. The strange that had been hanging on the wall when Ronald had woken up had disappeared. In it's place now were two large oak doors. How did they get there?

"_All will be explained, but time is short. Follow my voice."_

Ronald didn't know how or why, but something in the voice was making him relax. Almost like his brain was telling him to trust the voice that was speaking to him. Before he knew it, the door to the room was already opened and he was walking out into a large stone hallway, lit by torches that looked to be several years old. The light of the torches showed several tapestries hung along the wall, each depicting an epic battle or strange event. And in almost every one of them appeared to be a beautiful woman with wings and a strange headdress.

"Where am I?" Ronald asked himself.

Almost as if it was an answer to his question, Ronald's eyes fell upon one of the largest tapestries that hung on a large wall in between two large statues. Along the bottom of the tapestries showed two separate armies that were armed to the teeth. On the left side, there was an army of humanoid reptiles, of snakemen. And in front of them appeared to be a man with yellow-scaled skin, and blood red eyes. He wore armor of gold and jade, with a large serpent staff in his hands. But the shadow he caste along the ground looked more like a large five headed serpent. The army on the right was made of men in strange gray armor, lead by several strange monsters. One of the monsters had a large red head, large yellow eyes, and four blue legs. And leading them was a large and sinister creature that looked more like Ron's vision of what a vampire on Earth would look like. Pale skin that was as white as chalk, fangs in his mouth instead of teeth, and he was covered by armor and a cape that seemed to be as black as night. And on the chest of every creature and soldier was what almost seemed to be a large, red bat-like symbol.

Above these two armies was a large fortress that was white as ivory. Several men and women with blue auras and ancient robes stood in front of the fortress, along with the winged woman Ronald had seen in the other tapestries. But the main figure, the one they seemed to be looking to, was a large man with long flowing blonde hair. He almost looked like he was a barbarian and a soldier at the same time. The only armor he wore was a large chest piece with a strange symbol in the center. Almost like a cross. Above his head, he held a large broadsword that seemed to be glowing with energy.

"I-is that who I – I think it is?" Ronald asked himself.

"King Grayskull." A voice said directly behind Ron, making him scream and jump almost five feet into the air. When Ron spun around, he gave a sigh of relief to see it was none other than Man-at-Arms. "I didn't mean to scare, your Highness."

"It's okay. Y-you said that this is King Grayskull?" Ronald asked him.

"It is. This depicts the great war between the three most powerful forces of Eternia. The Snakemen, the Horde, and the remaining free people of Eternia that formed an alliance with King Grayskull." James said to him.

"But, who's the weird man in front of the snakemen?" Ronald asked.

"That's their leader, King Hiss. A powerful dark wizard. When Hordak and his armies defeated them, he"

"He sent them into Limbo. Inside S-Snake Mountain." Ronald stuttered as he recalled the ominous fortress and what was inside of it.

"How do you know that?" James asked him. James knew that when the school's taught of the great war, the focus was on the Horde and King Grayskull's forces. Very few people actually knew of the snakemen's leader.

"Because I heard them talk about it. We've got to warn mom and dad! Skeletor's planning,"

"_We already know, young Prince."_ The voice.

"Please tell me you heard that." Ronald begged.

"I did. Follow me, Ronald." James said and began to lead the way. As the left, Ronald finally noticed the two large statues. One was of the winged woman he had seen in the tapestry, while the other looked like the man with the large sword, King Grayskull. Not wanting to get lost, Ronald turned his attention back to Man-at-Arms and kept close to him. Along the way, Ronald couldn't help but notice the different symbols and pictures that were carved into some of the walls and pillars. Some of the engravings scared the living daylights out of Ronald while others seemed to cause his imagination to work into overdrive with wonder.

"What is all this?" Ronald asked himself.

"Eternia's history. Some of these carving's date back to when the people of Eternia learned how to read and write. There's many stories in here that most of Eternia has forgotten about." James said to him.

When Ronald finally pulled his gaze away from the carvings along the walls, he saw two large doors made of silver and gold in front of them. As soon as Man-at-Arms was three feet from them, the doors opened on their own. On the other side of the massive doors was a massive chamber of smooth stone that almost looked like polished granite of various blues and greens that almost seemed to radiate with its own inner light. In the center of the room was a large staircase that almost looked like an alter with giant wings carved on either side. At the top, sitting in front of what appeared to be a large closed circular door or window, was a stone throne with strange runes carved into it. Sitting next to the throne were Rufus and Orko, both still had worried looks on their faces. Perched on top of the throne was a large eagle with fire red feather on the back of it's wings and tail. The feathers on its whole underside and head almost seemed to be made out of pure gold. But even from where Ronald was standing, he could se the one feature of the eagle that stood out the most were its sapphire blue eyes. Almost like its eyes had been replaced with real rare sapphire jewels.

"Wow." was the only thing Ronald could say at that very moment.

"RON!" Rufus shouted with glee as he bounded down the steps three at a time, with Orko floating behind him at an even pace. Ronald barley had time to brace himself before the large hairless tiger leapt on top of him and began to lick Ronald's face with its sandpaper-like tongue.

"We were so worried about you!" Orko said as he swooped in and hugged Ronald's neck tightly, causing himself to be licked by Rufus as well. As Orko bolted backwards and tried to wipe the tiger's saliva off his hidden face, the tiger backed away and he tried to spit away the soar taste from his mouth.

"I don't mean to be rude," Ronald said as he stood and used his shirt to wipe off his face. "But can someone explain what's happening? Right now, Skeletor is fixing to attack the palace!" Ronald shouted.

"_We know, prince Ronald. Your friends have explained everything to us."_ The voice said again.

"I'm really getting creeped out now. Who said that?" Ronald asked.

"_I did."_ The voice said as the eagle cried out. The eagle flew from the top of the stone throne, and it looked like it was making a collision course directly to Ronald. As Ronald covered himself with his arms, the eagle was engulfed in a blinding white light before landing on the ground directly in front of Ronald. When the light disappeared, Ronald's jaw hung open as the sight before him.

The eagle was now transformed into a tall, and radiantly beautiful young woman. Her skin looked as smooth as porcelain, with bright red hair that flowed down to just above her derriere. A well-polished bronze headdress, shaped to the form of an eagle's head, rested on her head with a white silk veil dropping down in the back. A blue chest plate with elaborate gold trim kept her breasts and torso covered, while fine white silk cloth wrapped around her waist and left her left leg from mid-thigh downward exposed. Her arms from her biceps to her wrists were covered in blue cloth while gauntlets of gold and bronze kept her forearms covered. Bracelets of pure gold were wrapped around both ankles and her feet left bare. From her back were a large pair of white wings, almost making her look perfectly like the image of an angel Ronald's mother used to tell him about. In her hands was a long gold staff, with the statue of a bird with its wings outstretched. But her eyes seemed to glow, making it look like her eyes were made of beautiful sapphire jewels.

"Hello, Ronald. Crown prince of Eternia." She said in a sweetly soft voice. Even though her voice was soft and comforting, it also ringed with eminence power at the same time.

"Who – um, I mean – wowwie." Ronald said, making the woman in front of him chuckle.

"I am known as the Sorceress. I am the guardian of Castle Grayskull, and the secrets within it." She said to Ronald.

"She's also the one that healed you, thank God."

"Healed me? The dart! I forgot!" Ronald said as he remembered how sick he had been.

"You were gravely ill when James found you. So ill, that I had to use my powers to transport all of you here." She said to him.

"You did?" Ronald asked, amazed at what he was hearing. "Then maybe you can help us now. Skeletor is fixing to attack the royal palace! He's the leader of the dark raiders! And I think he might of done something with Uncle Drakken!" Ron began saying in a rush.

"Hush, young prince. As I've said before, you're friends have already informed me. But," the sorceress said before pausing. Ronald instantly noticed the grave look on her face as she paused for a moment. "There is nothing I can do to help the royal palace." She said.

"Do what? But, you just said,"

"I brought you here, yes. But as powerful as I am, I am limited to what I can do unless it involved protecting Castle Grayskull. And the only way I can leave is to either assume a mortal form, or the form of the eagle you just saw. In either form, my power drops dramatically." She said to him.

"Then, can you at least help my uncle? I think he's trapped inside Snake Mountain." Ronald said to her.

"Ronald, there's something I have to tell you." James said as he stepped forward and placed his hand on Ron's shoulder.

"What is it?" Ronald asked him.

"There's something about Drakken you don't know. Something that I've been looking into for quite some time now." James started.

* * *

At the royal palace, all the soldiers were in place. Several were operating the weapon turrets and ballistics as the saw the dust cloud in the distance growing larger by the minute. Kim stood with her staff extended, and now wearing a suit of royal armor herself and her long red hair tied back in a ponytail. She gripped her staff tightly, with the sounds of her skin rubbing it almost sounding like leather. She was going over her training and strategies in her head over and over again, trying to make sure she remembered everything she had been taught. She knew that one day, she would have to put her knowledge to use. Especially so with her desire of wanting to be in the royal army. She just never knew that the day would come so soon. She just prayed to the Elders that she and the soldiers were ready for a moment like this.

"_CAPTAIN POSSIBLE!"_ the tech, Wade Load, shouted through the communicator in her ear.

"What is it, soldier?" she asked.

"_We have a major problem! The defenses are all shutting down!"_

"What? How can that be?" Kimberly demanded.

"_I'm trying to find out! But, everything is shutting down. Turrets, ballistics, even the armor plating is retracting!"_

"Then get them back up! We're fixing to be under attack!" Kimberly shouted into her link.

"_I'm trying as fast as I can, Captain! Hold on. I found the reason why everything is shutting down. Maybe I can – this can't be right."_

"What is it? How badly was the system hacked?"

"_It wasn't. It's a high ranking code, higher than your father's. It's ordering all the defenses to be lowered, and it's rewriting all the command codes!" _Wade said.

"Who has the authority to do that?" Kimberly asked him.

"_Only two people, Captain. One is the king, and he's with thr ground forces."_

"Then who's the other person?" Kimberly asked.

* * *

"YOU'RE LYING!" Ron shouted again, unable to believe what he was being told.

"Ronald, have I ever lied to you before?" James asked him.

"No, but"

"Then believe me now. Ronald, I have known you since ethe day you were born, and I've never lied to you before. So you have to know that what I'm saying is true. Drakken is a traitor. He's been in league with the dark raiders for years." James said to him.

"Then why haven't you told my father? Or arrested him?" Ronald asked him.

"Because I needed hard evidence to prove it. But every time I gain evidence, it's always been destroyed or taken away. Ronald, Drakken and someone else is in league with Skeletor."

"He can't be! He's watched over me my entire life. My father trusts him! He,"

"Ronald, please. Just think about it for a moment. Why would Drakken know of Skeletor's location and not tell any of us? And why go straight there without back up?" James asked him.

He didn't want to admit it right now, but James had a point. Drakken had gone straight to Snake Mountain. And the trip there should have taken several hours, not the time it actually had. Drakken must have known a faster way to get there. Which meant he really had known Snake Mountain's location before hand. But why hide it? Was it true? Was his godfather a traitor to everything he and his father had fought so hard for?

"If that's true, then Uncle Drakken knows how to bypass the defenses. Doesn't he?" Ronald asked James.

"He helped create them, Ronald. That means the palace is defenseless right now." James said, causing the fear within him to rise to leaps and bounds. His parents were in danger, and his friends as well. That meant KP was in danger! The thought of his best friends being in danger was making Ron's stomach churn as he started to feel sick again.

"Then how can we stop Skeletor?" Ronald asked.

"There is a way." The sorceress said and approached Ronald. "Long ago, after the death of King Grayskull, it was fortold that evil would once again rise and threaten Eternia once more. On that day, by the of power of Grayskull, a hero would emerge and drive the evil back to the dark from which it came." The sorceress said.

"So, who's this hero?" Ronald asked. He kept looking back and forth between Man-at-Arms and the Sorceress, looking for an answer. After a moment or two, Ron realized that they were both looking at him. "Now wait a minute! I'm lazy, I'm clumsy, and I've still got to lot to learn in combat practice." Ronald said as he took a few steps backwards.

"And look at me, Ronald. When I arrived to Eternia, I was a skinny scientist what didn't even know how to hammer a nail into a board." James said to him.

"But you've had years to practice. And I'm just a kid!" Ronald protested.

"Destiny calls upon us whenever we are needed, young prince. But there is a way to find out if you are the hero that was fortold." The sorceress said as her staff disappeared. For a brief moment, the sorceress closed her eyes and raised her right hand towards the ceiling. When her eyes opened, they were filled with white energy as her aura began to glow brightly. Soon, a large case descended from the ceiling that was surrounded in the same energy. The case slowed its speed until it was level at Ronald's waist. On the case's lid was the same symbol the King Grayskull wore in the tapestry. The case slowly opened, and revealed a large broadsword. The handle was wrapped in leather, with the hilt looking like it had been forged from solid gold. The blade was four feet long, and despite several knicks and scratches, the blade looked like it was made out of silver that had been so polished that Ron could see his reflection in it perfectly.

"What is it?" Ronald asked.

"Grasp it, young prince. Then, you shall have your answer." The sorceress said.

Ronald was hesitant at first. For all he knew, this could be a trick of some kind. But he knew and trusted James, and the Sorceress did heal him. And Orko and Rufus didn't show any sign of mistrust. Taking a deep breath and swallowing his pride, Ronald reached forward and gripped the handle of the sword tightly. The first thing he noticed about it was the weight was immense.

"Isn't this a little heavy?" Ronald asked.

That's when the blade of the sword began to glow with an internal blue light. The blade seemed to be pulsing with energy as it spread throughout the blade, into the hilt, and then to the handle. Ron took a deep breath as he felt a warm sensation flow through his arm and wash over him. He could feel his heart beat faster while every muscle in his body seemed to lock up at once and then relax. The warm sensation began to fade as his body shivered from the sudden rush of cold air around him. When looked at his arm again, he noticed that the sword was lighter now. In fact, the sword had shrunk in size so that he could carry it.

"What just happened?" Ronald asked.

"Your destiny." The Sorceress said. "Only direct descendant of King Grayskull could claim that sword. You have been chosen to be the guardian of Grayskull, and defender of Eternia." The Sorceress said to him.

"How am I supposed to do that with a sword?" Ronald asked her.

"To envoke the power, all you need to do is raise the sword and call upon it by – it has begun." The Sorceress said as her eyes grew wide.

"What's begun?" James asked her.

"Skeletor's attack has begun. The battle for Eternia has started. You all must leave at once!" the Sorceress said.

"But what about,"

"COME ON, RON! WE'VE GOT TO SAVE EVERYONE!" Orko shouted as he and Man-at-Arms began to drag him away.

"But how do I use the sword?" Ron asked as he was being pulled away.

"You will know what to do when the time comes." The Sorceress said before she was engulfed in a white light, and transformed into an eagle once more. She just prayed Ronald would figure out the sword soon. If the balance of power were to shift in Eternia, the future would be very bleak for everyone in their world.


End file.
